Dangan Ronpa: SC
by Asujoll
Summary: A collaborative effort with FromanTheman, Max, Josh, and Kyle. Years after The Tragedy, sixteen students are about to start their first year at Hope's Peak Academy. The Ultimate Despair are gone and all is normal... right? Well, what do you think?
1. Prologue Pt 1

_I'm always surprised at how surprised I am that people are surprised that I was brought into Hope's Peak Academy._

 _Hope's Peak Academy is a prestigious high school, meant only for the best of the best. You don't apply for Hope's Peak, Hope's Peak seeks you out and recruits you. And they only look for the most talented students they can find. Specifically, the seek out students who excel in their particular field - the Ultimates, you might say. In the past there have been such students as the Ultimate Baseball Star, or the Ultimate Cook, or even the Ultimate Fanfic Creator. Anyone is welcome so long as Hope's Peak recognizes their innate talents and potential to succeed. They say that graduating from this school will guarantee amazing success in life._

 _But you already know all of that already, don't you? That's my bad. Here I am telling you all this redundant information, and you don't even know who I am. Sorry about that._

 _My name is Yukika Kori, and I'm the Ultimate E-Sports Player._

 _Yes, e-sports. You know, playing multiplayer video games in worldwide tournaments. That look you just gave right there is exactly why people are surprised that I made it into Hope's Peak. How successful can one really be when they dedicate their life to video games? Whenever I'm asked this question, I usually point out that there are large cash prizes which go to the winners of e-sports tournaments, but the more I think about it, they're right. Video games aren't exactly a useful talent in the real world. It's not like physical sports, where you fine-tune your body and keep up a healthy lifestyle. It's not like academic pursuits, which guarantee you a good career. It's not like artistic talents, which can move the world if one's so talented enough._

 _I don't necessarily think I'm untalented. I wouldn't have won several million yen by winning e-sports if I wasn't talented. But it is kind of intimidating knowing I'll be attending class with students whose talents are probably less likely to be looked down upon. Let's face it: video games aren't exactly taken all that seriously in comparison to other hobbies._

Yukika stood before the Hope's Peak Academy building. For the sake of reference, Yukika is a slender young man with messy, dark brown hair. He wears a dark green blazer over a brown shirt, as well as dark brown slacks and black sneakers.

 _I shouldn't be boring you with talent envy. Sorry about that. Actually, today is my first day at Hope's Peak Academy. Obviously I'm really nervous, but at the same time, I can't shake the feeling that things are going to go great._

After taking a deep breath, Yukika stepped foot into the school building. He took a folded-up piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and looked at it.

" _Orientation will be held in the gymnasium on the first floor at 8am. Take a left upon entering the school building, and then a right at the stairs."_

 _It's 7:30am. My mom was always the type to make sure we showed up early to things. "When you leave early, you can never show up late," she'd always say._

Yukika followed the directions the paper laid out, taking a left upon entering the building. As he approached the stairs, he noticed something odd.

"That's weird," Yukika thought aloud as he noticed that the stairs were blocked off by a metal gate, similar to the kind you'd see at the mall when a store is closed. "Maybe they're making sure no one gets lost?"

Yukika took a right at the stairs - the only direction he could have taken - and entered the door. He found himself in a small room which had trophy cases on either side, as well as a door on the opposite side of where he stood, no doubt leading to the gym.

 _I'm not surprised this place has a room solely dedicated to trophies. I'm more surprised that it isn't bigger given what kind of school this is._

Yukika shrugged to himself as he made his way through the other door, which indeed led him to the gymnasium.

 _When I entered the gymnasium, I was surprised to see that there were two people who had already arrived before me. I'm too easily surprised, aren't I? Sorry about that._

"Hey, you were right. There's another one," the boy said.

"I told you," the girl said with a smug smirk.

"Yukika Kori, right?" the boy asked.

 _That took me aback. How does this guy know my name? I've never seen him before._

"Don't scare the poor kid," the girl scolded the boy.

"What? Didn't you read the forums?" the boy asked Yukika.

"Uh, no? What forums?" Yukika asked in response.

"There are dedicated forums about every new class at Hope's Peak," the boy explained. "There's an entire fanbase for the Hope's Peak students, and the really obsessed ones will track down any and all information about them. I, uh, happen to be one of those fans."

 _People are sharing information about me online without my consent? Is that even legal?!_

"Don't worry, you're not the only one here who finds that creepy as hell," the girl told Yukika.

"I'm Kenta Ri, by the way," the boy introduced himself. "And I'm this year's Ultimate Lucky Student."

 _I actually had heard about that. Every year, Hope's Peak does a random drawing of the names of every eligible student in Japan. The name they pick is chosen as the Ultimate Lucky Student, and is then recruited to join the ranks of the other Ultimates._

Kenta was a short young man with shaggy black hair and some hair on his chin. He wore a red hoodie, blue jeans, and brown loafers.

"It's awesome to meet you," Kenta beamed at Yukika. "Is it true that you've never lost a game of The Legendary Tournament before? I believe that you haven't, but I want to hear it from your mouth."

"Well... no, I've never lost a game before," Yukika admitted. "I've come close, but I managed to pull through."

"So cool," Kenta gushed.

"Mind filling me in, or are you going to make the poor kid do it himself?" the girl remarked.

"Well, like he said, I'm Yukika Kori," Yukika introduced himself to the girl. "I'm the Ultimate E-Sports Player."

"I don't know what e-sports are, but you don't seem in good enough shape to be an athlete if you ask me," the girl pointed out. "I'm Verona Rodriguez, the Ultimate Street Performer."

Verona was the same height as Kenta and had dark tan skin. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore a pink t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and dark purple sneakers.

"Verona Rodriguez?" Yukika asked. "Is that foreign?"

"If you must know, I'm from Mexico," Verona answered.

"Your grasp on the Japanese language is pretty impressive, considering," Yukika pointed out.

"I'm still not sure she isn't the Ultimate Linguist," Kenta joked. "But for real, I don't know a whole lot about Verona. There wasn't much about her on the forums, and believe me, people don't give up easily on getting information."

"I'm off the grid," Verona smirked.

"All I know is what they had in the Hope's Peak student files," Kenta admitted.

"Isn't that classified information?" Yukika gasped.

"Probably," Kenta chuckled.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, how did you get recruited?" Yukika asked Verona.

"Some guy saw me do one of my shows and asked me if I was interested in joining the school. Simple as that," Verona answered. "I'd be an idiot to say no."

"I have heard rumors of Hope's Peak sending talent scouts out to other continents," Kenta muttered.

 _Quite the classmates I have already. Kenta's pretty weird, creepy even, but he doesn't necessarily seem like a bad guy. Verona's personality seems kind of blunt, but I don't think she's a bad person._

Not longer after that, another girl made her way into the gym.

"Hey guys!" the new girl greeted chipperly. "Looks like I'm not the only early bird this morning."

"Mitsu Shinaina," Kenta smiled.

"?!" the new girl responded.

 _The fact that Kenta, a stranger, spoke what I presumed to be the new girl's name seemed to catch her off guard._

"Kenta, stop creeping everyone out," Verona chastised the Lucky Student.

"I can't help it! I'm so excited to meet my fellow Ultimates," Kenta grinned.

"Apparently he's been stalking forums which have information on everyone in our class," Yukika explained to the new girl.

"That's not very considerate," the new girl pouted. "Well, anyway, he's right. I'm Mitsu Shinaina, the Ultimate Cheerleader!"

Mitsu was a short girl with dark red hair done up into two pigtails. She wore a cheerleader's outfit, with a blue-and-pink top, a yellow skirt, and, for some reason, white mary janes and dark calf-length socks.

"Sorry if I put you off," Kenta apologized to Mitsu. "I'm Kenta Ri, Ultimate Lucky Student."

"Verona Rodriguez, Ultimate Street Performer," Verona introduced.

"I'm Yukika Kori, the Ultimate E-Sports Player," Yukika introduced.

"Okay, let's see..." Mitsu cleared her throat. "Kenta! Verona! Yukika!" she recited excitedly.

"I'm glad to see I'm not the only one here who's excited," Kenta smiled.

"Oh, I'm always excited to meet new people," Mitsu beamed. "Especially since we'll be attending school together. I know we're going to be best friends!"

"You can't be best friends with everyone," Verona pointed out.

"I don't think anyone has a choice in the matter," Mitsu chirped.

Verona shot Mitsu a bemused look.

"Mitsu's a very openly friendly person," Kenta explained to Yukika. "She won't rest until everyone considers her a close friend. It's that kind of energy that's made her such a successful cheerleader. They say that her cheers are able to perk up the most poorly-performing teams and give them a game-winning morale advantage."

 _Maybe, but I can see some people getting kind of annoyed with such a constantly sunny personality like hers._

"...What are you looking at?" Verona asked Yukika.

"N-Nothing!" Yukika insisted.

Another girl entered the gym.

"Hey," she said to the four other students.

"Hey there!" Mitsu greeted. "What's your name?"

"...Asa Kawa," the girl answered. "And I'm, uh, the Ultimate Saxophonist, if you were, you know, curious."

Asa was a tall girl with long, curly, light green hair. She wore a pale blue school uniform top with a yellow tie, a black skirt, yellow thigh-high socks, and black loafers. She also had freckles on her face.

"Asa!" Mitsu cheered as she gave Asa a hug.

 _Asa doesn't look very comfortable getting random hugs. I wonder if that'll ever stop Mitsu._

"Asa's pretty socially awkward," Kenta explained to Yukika. "She doesn't get out a lot, and, as such, isn't a very extroverted person."

"Is that by choice?" Yukika asked.

"I think so," Kenta said. "I know she took up saxophone by choice. I've actually seen some videos online of her playing. It made my heart melt."

 _As long as that's the only thing that melted in this scenario..._

"Hello," Asa said to Yukika and Kenta.

"Hey, Asa," Kenta greeted merrily. "I'm Kenta Ri, the Ultimate Lucky Student. Big fan"

"Hi," Yukika greeted. "Yukika Kori, E-Sports Player.

Asa did not respond.

 _Is she waiting for us to keep talking? She's the one who started talking to us. It's her turn to talk!_

"I saw some videos of you playing saxophone online. You're amazing," Kenta smiled.

"Oh, uh, thanks," Asa said, avoiding eye contact with anyone. Her face turned bright red. "I, uh... oh geez, this is embarrassing. No one's, uh, no one my age has complimented me on my videos before."

"I can't imagine why not," Kenta said.

"Well, uh, no one our age really likes the saxophone that much," Asa said. "Except, well, me, obviously."

"Well, your playing is the exception to the rule," Kenta said.

"...Oh," Asa said, her face reddening deeper.

 _Is she just embarrassed by the praise, or does it have more to do with Kenta himself? It's kind of hard to tell with her._

"Is this it?" A tall, imposing young man with a large burn mark on his face said, looking around at the small assortment of students in the gym. "Is this truly what Hope's Peak Academy calls talent?"

"That's Masakazu Uzo, the Ultimate Pyrotechnician. He thinks he's hot shit, pun fully intended," Kenta said, nudging Yukika.

 _Did he really have to clarify that?_

"No, we're actually just waiting for all of our other new friends!" Mitsu replied, nearly jumping for joy.

"Whatever, the name is Masakazu Uzo, if you must know," Masakazu said, crossing his arms.

 _This guy seems like trouble, better steer clear of him._

Masakazu was an average, somewhat stocky boy wearing nearly all black, with spiky red hair and an extremely prominent burn mark across the left side of his face.

"What makes you so special?" Verona asked, crossly.

"Well if you must know I once created a pyrotechnical display so large the United States president issued a terrorist warning!" Masakazu declared.

"So… you faked a terrorist attack?" Yukika asked.

Masakazu simply laughed maniacally at this question, causing everyone to shift around uncomfortably.

"Wow!" Mitsu gushed, looking at Masakazu and the others in awe.

 _God, these guys just keep getting weirder and weirder, honestly. I really don't know what to expect from these people anymore._

The next student walked in, cackling loudly. A disheveled girl with messy blue hair and wearing a loose student uniform walked forward, taking long swigs from her flask.

"Now it's a fuckin' party!" She stumbled into the gym carrying a flask, the gym filled with a heavy smell of alcohol.

"H-how is that smell so overpowering?!" Asa exclaimed, looking at the girl.

Kenta laughed, "Sake Tsukakke, the Ultimate Mixologist. It's rumored her drinks are so potent, even a sip will have you on your ass!"

"You're fuckin' right about that!" Sake exclaimed loudly from the other side of the gym, "Want some?!"

"Uh, no thank you," Yukika said, awkwardly.

"Pfft, lightweight," Sake replied, taking another drink from her flask.

"I agree, these people are quite lame," Masakazu said, rolling his eyes.

"Lame?" Mitsu said, sadness in her eyes, "None of us are lame! We're all unique and super in our own way!"

"Keep telling yourself that short stuff!" Sake cackled, "What are you the Ultimate Pep Talker or some shit?"

"N-no!" Mitsu said, starting to lose her cool, "I could never be that useful. I'm the Cheerleader…"

 _Is she really getting that worked up over being called lame? That's… actually pretty lame._

Sake then turned to Yukika, "Oh hey there big boy!" Sake then stumbled over to Yukika and awkwardly threw herself on him, much to his surprise.

 _This stench of alcohol is overbearing, I never thought I'd be denying a chick this early on in the school year._

"Um… can you get off me?" Yukika asked, awkwardly.

"Are… you not enjoying yourself?" Sake asked, genuinely confused.

"O-oh I mean it's not that but-" Yukika was suddenly interrupted by Masakazu, who was rolling his eyes.

"He just doesn't wanna get an STD on the first day, obviously," Masakazu said to Sake, "Gotta find out if there's a medic in our class first!"

"Hey hey hey I've been clean for like a month!" Sake exclaimed to Masakazu, who chuckled.

 _A month…?_

Suddenly a large figure on a skateboard rushed into the gym, the figure spun around in a circle to gain speed, nearly knocking over everyone in the process. The man came to a screeching halt right in front of Yukika and Sake, who fell over in shock.

"What?" The man said, picking up his skateboard from the ground.

"Wh-what?" Yukika stammered, looking up at the tall boy. "You… like…"  
"You almost fucking killed us!" Sake exclaimed, still lying on top of Yukika. Yukika hastily pushed Sake off of him and got up off the ground.

"Wow! You're even taller in person, Yurei!" Kenta exclaimed, looking at the skateboarder. "I read that you were tall and buff, but you look much bigger than in the pictures!"

 _This guy's knowledge of us all scares me. To think this guy saw pictures of me gives me the creeps._

"The fuck? You've seen pictures of me?" Yurei said, recoiling from the Ultimate Lucky Student.

"Of course! I've admired all of you from afar for so long!" Kenta exclaimed, nudging closer.

Yurei glared at the kid, with malice in his eyes. Kenta then turned back to Yukika, who was clearly confused.

"That's Yurei Shizuka, the Ultimate Skateboarder. He's won so many championships, the websites have lost count!" Kenta gushed, looking at Yurei.

Yurei Shizuka is an extremely tall, somewhat buff man with light purple hair that reached down to his collar. He wore a black t shirt and skinny jeans with converses. Yurei scoffed at the Lucky Student and rolled his eyes.

 _This guy just seems like even more trouble than the last guy, and that's saying a lot. I'd ask if these people are gonna get worse, but I'm afraid I'll be right._

"So like, is anyone here even worthwhile or is it just like losers like that artard over there?" Yurei said, gesturing to Kenta.

"Hey! Calling someone artard might hurt his feelings!" Mitsu exclaimed, rushing over to Yurei.

"So fucking what?" Yurei said, shrugging. Mitsu audibly gasped.

"T-that's not very nice!" Mitsu retorted.

"I reiterate, so fucking what?" Yurei said again.

"Alright let's just calm down, guys," Verona said, coming in between the two.

"Whatever," Yurei said, crossing his arms.

"Okay!" Mitsu giddily replied.

Another figure then burst into the gym, "Bunko Itami, reporting for duty!" A short, somewhat large girl wearing a school uniform walked in, smiling brightly at the people already in the gym. Everyone looked back at her, confused.

 _What's she so happy about? At least it's a change of pace, though._

"Alright, so who wants to be drawn?" Bunko asked.

"What?" Asa said.

"Drawn? What do you mean 'drawn'?" Masakazu asked Bunko.

Bunko smiled, "I mean as in caricatures! I am the Ultimate Caricaturist!"

"Pfft, what a useless talent! Your lack of talent makes me laugh!" Masakazu exclaimed, laughing in Bunko's face. Bunko looked at Masakazu and pulled out a notebook.

"Hold still!" Bunko said, rapidly scribbling across the notepad while Masakazu stood still, confused. Suddenly, Bunko held up a very laughable looking sketch of Masakazu that overemphasized his scar and hair.

"Wh-?!" Masakazu glared angrily at the caricature, "How DARE you defile the ESTEEMED face of Masakazu Uso! I should set you on fire for that!"

"Eep!" Bunko squealed before retreating behind the other students.

 _What's that guy's deal? I mean… how bad could the caricature have been?_

"Protect me!" Bunko said, cowering behind Verona.

Verona then walked up to Masakazu angrily, "You just met her and you're already being a fucking prick to her already! What's your deal?"

"My _deal_? She defiled my persona! She created a mockery of my image! SHE made Masakazu Uso look like a fraud!" Masakazu screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Can't we all just get alon-" Mitsu began.

"Shut the fuck up!" Verona and Masakazu exclaimed in unison.

 _Oh please let this end…_

"Um… did I choose the wrong time to come in?" A tall girl with short pink hair, wearing a red jersey and a long skirt said as she walked into the gym.

"Oh no not at all _please_ come on in!" Kenta said, seemingly desperate to get more people in.

"Okay?" The girl said, walking awkwardly into the gym. She simply looked around at the other students without a single word.

"So… who are you?" Asa asked the girl quietly.

"Komei Amai, the ultimate soccer star," Komei said.

"Is that all?" Asa inquired further, expecting a response.

Komei rolled her eyes, "Well of course not, but that's all you guys are getting."

 _Why? Does she have something to hide?_

"Why not go into more detail?" Yukika asked, causing Komei to roll her eyes again.

"We just met for one, I don't even know you people for one, why should I trust you with information?" Komei replied.

"Oh don't worry Komei I already know a lot of your information!" Kenta exclaimed proudly.

"H-huh?" Komei looked at Kenta, who was grinning wildly. Komei's bewildered stare turned to one of disgust as she quickly turned away from Kenta.

 _Does Kenta realize how much he's creeping everyone out? Does he even care?_

Suddenly a large, tall guy with blonde hair with a pink stripe through it walked in, "C'mon Hope's Peak, let's get sickening!" Suddenly the boy flopped onto the floor, causing everyone to rush over to him.

"Are you okay?!" Mitsu exclaimed, looking at the boy.

"Girl I'm more than okay!" The boy responded, slowly getting off the floor.

"Yay!" Mitsu exclaimed while everyone rolled their eyes.

"What was that… display, you made?" Masakazu asked, looking at the boy.

"More importantly, who are you?" Yukika asked.

Kenta opened his mouth to speak, but was suddenly interrupted by the boy, "I'm Jirou Subaru, the Ultimate Interior Designer! It's time to make this place fierce as fuck!"

"Fierce… as fuck?" Asa said, confused.

"Yes, gurl fierce as fuck did you not hear me the first time?" Jirou said, looking at Asa.

"Did you just-?" Verona said before getting interrupted by Jirou again.

"YES GURL I DID JUST!" Jirou exclaimed, clapping in between every single word.

 _Is this guy for real…?_

"Alright, guys. Let's try to not get too riled up already…" Yukika said, trying to keep the peace.

"Stop trying to be relevant, normie," Yurei said, rolling his eyes.

"Normie…?" Yukika questioned, looking down.

"Jirou's talents as an interior design landed him a job with the prime minister!" Kenta exclaimed, looking at Jirou.

"Gurl how the fuck did you know that?" Jirou looked at Kenta awkwardly, "Have you been following me?! I will rip your weave out!"

"I-I don't have a weave!" Kenta exclaimed, backing up from Jirou.

 _THAT'S what he's worried about?_

Jirou looked at Komei's hair, and walked up, "Wow your hair is fucking fierce girl! Where'd you get it done?"

"Oh I uh, just got it done somewhere…" Komei said, looking at the interior designer.

"Girl spill the details I gotta know," Jirou continued.

"I mean, my mom did it, she's the ultimate barber," Komei said.

"Shut up!" Jirou exclaimed, "No way!"

"Yes way!" Komei replied.

"Why should we care?" Yurei sighed.

"GIRL I WILL-" Jirou began, as he was interrupted by the door bursting open.

Suddenly a clown burst through the door on a unicycle, honking horns and throwing pies at random angles. The clown laughed hysterically as literally everyone stopped everything they were doing.

"What the FUCK?!" Jirou exclaimed.

The clown stopped right in front of Jirou, and laughed hysterically, "Hey hey! Wanna hear a joke! Your fashion sense!" The clown then began laughing again and wheeled away before Jirou could grab the clown by the neck.

"Wh-who is this?!" Yukika exclaimed, ducking from the barrage of pies.

"Uh, Masako Soran?" Kenta gasped as he dodged pies. "The Ultimate-"

"The Ultimate Clown!" Masako introduced. "I once stopped a war with my routine!"

"Well if she hits me, then she's about to start a war!" Verona grumbled.

Masako came to a screeching halt, "Sorry guys! I'm just havin' some fun! Haha!"

"I like it!" Mitsu said, cowering behind Komei.

"W-why do you like _everything?_ " Asa said, completely dumbfounded.

"Why should I _not_ like everything!" Mitsu replied, cheerfully.

 _I can think of three good reasons._

"Wh-what?" Masako said, looking at everyone, "Do you not like my jokes?"

"That's putting it _lightly…_ " Masakazu said from the floor.

"O-oh…" Masako said, looking down. Masakazu rolled his eyes.

"Girl you a fucking MESS am I right?" Sake said, taking a swig from her flask, Masako looked at Sake gloomily.

"I guess…" Masako said, jumping down from her unicycle.

Mitsu ran over to Masako, "Look what you did to Masako already! She was so funny!"

"Pfft, whatever," Komei replied. Mitsu looked at Komei oddly.

 _Mitsu seems genuinely angry… over someone she just met? God I don't get it._

"So, that makes twelve, how much more are we gonna get?" Yukika asked.

 _I almost don't want to find out…_

A tall, normal looking guy walked in wearing a white dress shirt and a tie, he looked around at the chaos that had clearly been going on, "Am I in the right room?"

"Class #84?" Yukika asked the guy.

"Yeah, that's what I'm looking for… is this it?" He asked.

"Yes, it is Tama Tamago!" Kenta said, looking at the man.

Tama looked at the lucky student, "H-how do you know my name?"

"Buddy we've been through this, kid's a fucking creep," Verona said, filing her nails.

"Oh. Sounds fair!" Tama suddenly said, grinning broadly.

 _He's just gonna accept that?!_

"I mean, I've seen so much info on you all it's hard not to gush!" Kenta exclaimed, looking at them all.

Suddenly, Tama's shirt began rustling, he looked down in his shirt and began pushing on his shirt rapidly, "No! No get down!"

"Is this guy alright?" Komei asked, looking at Tama.

"Evidently not honey," Jirou said.

Then a small chicken popped out of Tama shirt and began running across the gym floor, "Tama the 2nd, no!" Tama began running after the small chicken.

"Aw! It's so cute!" Mitsu said, looking at the chicken. Tama then grabbed the chicken and shoved it back into his shirt.

"You guys… saw NOTHING!" Tama exclaimed, looking at everyone in the room.

"What did we see?" Yukika asked.

"Exactly!" Tama exclaimed. Yukika looked at Tama awkwardly.

 _Ugh... I thought we finally got someone normal! Is there anyone normal in this class?_

"Tama Tamago, The Ultimate Birdkeeper!" Kenta gushed.

"You're still creepy as fuck, kid," Jirou retorted.

"I know!" Kenta replied, smiling. Everyone then looked at Kenta, who looked down to the floor.

"So... what have you boy scouts been up to?" Tama asked everyone.

"Oh trying to kill each other, what else?" Sake said loudly.

"Boy scouts…?" Jirou asked.

"Of course _you're_ the one who reacts to boy scouts…" Komei said to Jirou.

"Girl," Jirou said, rolling his eyes pensively.

The door swings open violently. Standing at the door is a tall, shaggy haired boy. He wore an all black ensemble of long pants, a hoodie, and a T-shirt with a gorilla on the front. His extremely tired looking eyes squinted as he frowned distastefully. Before walking to the classmates, his first action is an aggressive dab.

"Oh no…" Yurei groaned.

" _Oh shit whaddup!_ It's Naruto Yuutsuna! The Ultimate Meme Page Admin!" Kenta exclaimed.

"Meme page admin?" Komei scoffed. "I don't believe tha-"

"BELIEVE IT!" Bunko shouted. Komei's only reply was a palm to the face.

Naruto walked over to his fellow classmates, scowling. "'Sup, faggots?" He spat.

"Excuse the fuck out of you," Jirou countered, marching toward the new arrival.

"Pshh, calm down, it's just a fucking prank bro." Naruto chuckled.

"A fucking memelord?" Yurei questioned angrily. "Are you fucking autistic? Anyone can spout shitty memes!"

"Well, who's talent is it, dipshit, hm?" Naruto scowled.

Yukika grew increasingly more uncomfortable as Mitsu spoke up.

"Guys, guys." The cheerleader interjected. "Let's just all take a deep breath and-"

"Who's this little shit?" Naruto asked, annoyed. Naruto's attention then turned to Masako on her unicycle. "Oh fuck, it's It!"

Naruto's shouting startled the clown, causing her to fall over. Tama snickered just a bit at the 'exchange'.

"Hold still I can draw you!" Bunko said excitedly, as she began sketching.

"Fuck off, cunt, I don't want my piece of shit face on paper. Besides, caricatures trigger me." Naruto grumbled, smacking the sketchbook out of Bunko's hand.

"Hey!" Bunko pouted.

"Man, he's awful as the forum said." Kenta looked concerned to Yukika.

"I know right? It's amazing." Naruto cackled.

"So," Yukika spoke up, "Is that everybody?"

"From what I read, there should be sixteen total," Kenta explained, "We're at fourteen now, so that means two-"

The door opening interrupted Kenta mid-sentence. The ambient chatter quieted as everyone looked down at the new girl. She shrunk even further as if to escape the fourteen pairs of eyes trained on her.

Sake stumbled toward her, "Hey there little girl, what the fuck are you doing here? Isn't this a high school?"

The girl opened her mouth to speak but was immediately interrupted by Tama pulling the drunk girl away, who landed flat on her ass. "Hey, that's not cool, my dude," he scolded Sake. Turning to the girl in the doorway, he asked, "What's your name?"

"Oh, um," the girl looked down embarrassedly, a light blush forming, "My name is Fumiko Kitsu. Ultimate Carpenter."

"Bull-fucking-shit," Yurei shoved his finger in her face, "A fucking normie bitch like you wouldn't know shit about building. That's a man's job."

Fumiko rolled her eyes. "Wow, real original. Never heard that one before. That insult used about as much of your head as your skateboarding does."

"How the hell do you know I'm a skateboarder? I've never talked to you in my life!" Yurei shouted.

"Well…" Kenta started

"Oh, for fuck's sake. We got two stalkers now?" Yurei groaned.

Fumiko looked between the two confusedly. "What? No. You're holding a skateboard. It was obvious."

Yurei scowled and looked away. "Whatever. I'm not trusting you with building anything for me."

Fumiko shrugged and walked toward the rest of the students, Tama close behind. After multiple attempts, Sake finally got on her feet and follows them as well.

Finally, the 16th student opened the doors and slid into the room on wheeled tennis shoes. He was a tall, extremely fat young man with thick glasses, greasy olive colored hair, cargo shorts, and a dark blue shirt with a UFO design.

"Better get your tin foil hats! It's Geretsuna Chizu, the Ultimate Conspiracy Theorist!" Kenta exclaimed.

"Why are you like this?" Masakazu growled.

Geretsuna snorted at Kenta. "Please. If you paid any iota of attention to my work, you'd know that tinfoil is fucking useless against mind reading devices," he said opinionatedly. "If you want to stop your mind from being read, you have to physically remove the implants that they put there that allow your thoughts to be broadcast."

"They need implants for that?" Bunko asked as she cocked her head to the side.

"Those aren't the only implants some of us need," Yurei sniggered as he side-eyed Fumiko.

"Aren't you the guy who knows way too much about all of us anyway?" Verona asked Kenta. "Shouldn't you have known that?"

"Hey, I'm just a fan, I don't remember everything about all of you," Kenta admitted. "Just the important stuff. Names, talents, measurements..."

"If you know _that_ measurement, I'm so fucking done," Jirou muttered.

"I only know what they had on the forums," Kenta shrugged.

"So he doesn't confirm or deny it..." Asa winced.

"Um, HELLO?!" Geretsuna snapped. "What about ME?! I'M the one who uncovered the Novoselic government conspiracy that almost led to World War III!"

"It's true," Kenta nodded. "Geretsuna's actually caught on to a lot of things that a lot of people would overlook normally. Hope's Peak wouldn't let a conspiracy theorist in if he wasn't top quality."

"I'm top quality in everything I do," Geretsuna snorted as he stuck a hand into his pocket and fished out an already-cooked chicken tender.

"The fact that I'm not the only one to have chicken stuffed in his clothes is concerning to say the least," Tama noted. His shirt bugawked.

"Heh. Tendies are the greatest food mankind has ever created and I will hear no differently," Geretsuna said with his mouth full of breaded chicken.

"Get that greasy shit anywhere near me and I will beat the ever-living fuck out of you," Yurei leered.

"I don't think there's _any_ fuck in him," Naruto remarked.

"Yeah, I'm so scared, you fucking edgelords," Geretsuna snorted. "Go fuck a skeleton or something."

"You can do that to those?" Bunko asked as she cocked her head to the side.

"You can fuck anything if you try hard enough," Sake giggled.

 _I'm going to be spending the entire school year with these people..._

"So... we're all here," Tama pointed out. "Now what?"

Just then, the door to the gymnasium shut itself, startling a few of the students.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Bunko asked.

"Upupupupu..." a strange, shrill voice snickered from seemingly nowhere.

"They're not seriously making light of that, are they?" Mitsu asked, seemingly offended.

From behind the podium jumped a short stuffed teddy bear. His entire right side was colored white, while his entire left side was colored black, and featured a toothy grin and a strangely-shaped red eye.

 _I recognize this. This is a Monokuma. Several years ago, an incident took place in Japan. They called it the "The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History", or just "The Tragedy" for short. A group of terrorists known as Ultimate Despair sought to spread anarchy, chaos, and despair through the world. Countless lives were lost._

 _The two things you need to know about this: Ultimate Despair and The Tragedy were birthed in Hope's Peak Academy. And Monokuma is the symbol of Ultimate Despair and The Tragedy._

 _Are the Hope's Peak staff really making light of this? I still feel like it's too soon. Japan is still recovering from The Tragedy, so having a fake Monokuma greet us seems to be in poor taste..._

"Well, would you look at this ragtag group of misfits?" the Monokuma grinned. "You guys are fighting so much already, and I haven't even given you guys a motive yet!"

"This shit right here is a motive!" Yurei shouted. "Is this shit supposed to be funny?!"

"Yeah, when this dickweed gets offended, you know you done goofed," Komei added.

"Funny? Well, I like to think I'm a charismatic bear, but for once, I'm DEAD serious," Monokuma responded.

"Too soon, fucko," Naruto grimaced.

"What?" Monokuma asked. "Ohhhhhhhhh, I get it. You think this is a joke! You think that the Hope's Peak staff are playing a prank on you guys, don't you? Upupupu..."

"It's not even that funny of a joke," Geretsuna said as he wiped his nose. "There's no clear setup OR punchline."

"Yeah, I know jokes," Masako added. "And this isn't funny."

"Oh my gawd... I thought just having Yasuhiro was bad, but you guys..." Monokuma muttered. "Look, you guys know about The Tragedy, clearly! You wouldn't be this butthurt about it if you didn't. Look! All the staff at Hope's Peak are dead. I fucking killed them! Now I want you guys to kill each other!"

"What?" Fumiko asked nervously.

"Ughhhh, I don't have time for this exposition shit," Monokuma groaned. "Here!"

Monokuma somehow procured sixteen electronic tablets from seemingly nowhere and tossed them into the crowd of students.

"Alright, here are your e-Handbooks!" Monokuma shouted. "Everything you're going to need to know can be found in here."

 _Monokuma's flippancy about this whole thing is really starting to piss me off. He just dropped this huge bomb on us and we barely have time to process it, and here he is acting like he's just going through the motions._

 _This has happened before. The killing game. The 78th class of Hope's Peak Academy were subjected to this. The rules section of the e-Handbook says it all._

 _Rule 1: Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time._

 _Rule 2: "Nighttime" is from 10 pm to 7 am. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution._

 _Rule 3: Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly._

 _Rule 4: With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope's Peak Academy at your discretion._

 _Rule 5: Violence against headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras._

 _Rule 6: Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered._

 _Rule 7: Additional school regulations may be added if necessary._

"Stop fucking glossing over everything, I want answers!" Yurei exclaimed, his voice quivering with rage.

"Alright alright keep your pants on!" Monokuma exclaimed, glowing red, "Welcome one and all to the Deadly School Life!"

"Deadly school life?" Yukika echoed.

"Deadly school life!" Monokuma exclaimed, "Here you'll be living out the rest of your days, cut off from the outside world! Isn't that wonderful?"

The room exploded with angry voices, all protesting the bear's statement. The bear then slammed his fist on the table, "Enough!" The room fell silent and Monokuma sat back down.

"Now, as I was saying before I was RUDELY interrupted!" Monokuma began, "Your communal school life begins now! Learn to love each other and live in harmony for years to come! Doesn't that sound splendid?"

"But what if I want out? I didn't sign up for this shit!" Verona exclaimed.

"Upupupupupu~" Monokuma laughed menacingly. Everyone exchanged worried looks as the bear's laughter grew louder and louder, "That's simple! All you have to do to leave is murder one of your fellow students!"

 _M-Murder…?_

Everyone stared at Monokuma, full of rage, fear, and sadness.

Monokuma cocked his head, "Seems like you guys are having trouble processing the situation, all you have to do is mu-"

"We fucking heard you the first time!" Masakazu exclaimed, looking at Monokuma.

"S-so… if we kill someone, we are allowed to leave? Then what happens to the rest of us?" Asa asked.

"Glad you asked!" Monokuma said, looking at Yurei who was leering near Geretsuna, "This part's important bub, might wanna hold off on that for a minute!"

Geretsuna then heelied away from Yurei hurriedly, "Back, vile fiend!" Yurei then scowled and crossed his arms.

"Alright I'm only gonna say this once!" Monokuma said, "So when you kill someone, an investigation begins! The remaining students will investigate the crime scene and their fellow students to figure out who the killer, or 'blackened', is! Then at a predetermined time, probably when I get bored, the class trial will begin! Then you'll all come together and decide who the killer is!"

"What happens to the killer?" Fumiko said, looking at Monokuma.

"Wow you guys are so full of questions!" Monokuma exclaimed, "I'm getting a bit tired of explaining, you guys sure are lucky I'm nice! If you guess who the killer is correctly, you all live another day and the killer is executed, plain and simple!"

"E-executed?" Tama exclaimed.

"Executed!" Monokuma replied, "But… if you guess the wrong one, the blackened will graduate, and the rest of you will be punished instead!"

"What?!" Masako exclaimed, grabbing her clown hair.

"How are _you_ even going to know who did it?" Naruto asked as he folded his arms.

"What, you guys didn't notice the cameras everywhere?" Monokuma asked. "Geez, you really are a bunch of Yasuhiros, aren'tcha? I've got my eyes on all of you 24/7."

"They're everywhere?" Yukika exclaimed.

"Even the showers?!" Sake instantly blurted out.

"What do you take me for, some kind of pervert?" Monokuma exclaimed, "Of course they're gonna be in the showers! I must take preventative measures to make sure I know exactly what you sickos are doing all the time!"

"...And where can I find these... cameras?" Geretsuna inquired, looking around at the other students.

"Filthy pervert!" Sake slapped Geretsuna and caused him to fall to the floor.

"I need to know for scientific reasons!" Geretsuna insisted.

"Upupupupu I love you guys already!" Monokuma laughed obnoxiously, "But sorry you can't access the camera footage, that's for my eyes only!"

"And what if we try to do something about it? Ya know, get to your little hidden camera hideout?" Naruto growled.

"Well, that would count as violence against the headmaster of course!" Monokuma blurted. "And well, here's what'll happen so even you all can wrap your heads around it!"

A monitor then lowered and a video played. The video was footage of the 78th class's introduction to their killing game. Mukuro Ikusaba, disguised as Junko Enoshima, acted violently against Monokuma and was swiftly, brutally impaled. The video ended and the students then looked uneasy.

"Any more questions?" Monokuma snickered.

 _I checked the list of rules in the e-Handbook once again. Things seemed pretty straightforward. You know, considering we're being asked to kill each other right the hell out of nowhere._

"Alright, well, if you have any more questions, just ask for your friendly neighborhood Monokuma," Monokuma said. "I'll probably answer your question. If it's stupid enough I'll probably just cackle in your face."

"What counts as a stupid question?" Bunko asked as she raised her hand.

Monokuma cackled.

"Well, anyway, I opened the dorm area for you guys," Monokuma said. "So, uh, feel free to get yourselves sitcheeated. Here's your dorm keys. Monokuma, out!"

Monokuma tossed a sack full of room keys onto the floor and jumped behind the lectern, seeming to disappear.

Silence befell the students, before being broken by one student clearing her throat.

"So, uh..." Masako started. "We're not actually killing each other, are we?"

"I don't know. I'm considering it," Naruto said with a sick grin.

"Fuck off," Verona said as she folded her arms.

"Seriously, guys," Tama said. "Death is nothing to joke about. We need to do whatever we can to make sure we all stay safe."

"Like what?" Fumiko asked.

"Don't piss anyone off," Komei shrugged.

"Please," Asa said. "Have you seen this class? We're not exactly the Kumbaya type."

"But we can be!" Mitsu cheered. "All we have to do is communicate with each other and get to understand each other, and we won't have any hard feelings!"

"Or we could just kill you off so no one has to deal with your pussy-ass bullshit," Yurei snarled.

"So if we find the hot cheerleader dead, we know who did it," Geretsuna smirked as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"It's that kind of joke that's going to lead to someone ending up dead!" Masako snapped. "I know about jokes. I'm a fucking clown! I know what's funny and what isn't. This isn't funny."

 _Everyone seemed at least a little taken aback by Masako's outburst._

"Eh, let them have their fun," Sake said. "Humor is subjective."

"I'm serious," Masako said. "Just joking about something long enough will get you to believe it."

"There's no way that's true," Yukika said skeptically.

"Where'd the creepy good luck kid run off to?" Masakazu asked.

Everyone paused and looked around. Masakazu was right; Kenta had disappeared.

 _He isn't dead... is he?_

"Alright, so here's how this is going to work!" Geretsuna declared. "We're splitting up! Group up. Five of us search the dorm area, five of us search for the lost kid, five of us search the rest of the school and see if there's anything else."

"That's... actually not a bad idea," Yukika said.

"I didn't get accepted to Hope's Peak for being a dumbass," Geretsuna snorted.

"Pretty sure she's already got that covered," Yurei sneered as he gestured at Bunko.

"What? No, I'm the Ultimate Caricaturist," Bunko clarified.

"How are we grouping up?" Jirou asked.

"I'll look for Kenta," Yukika volunteered.

 _He probably thinks I'm his best friend here... Might as well._

"I will too," Verona added.

"I'll search the rest of the school," Yurei said. "So I don't have to deal with the rest of you."

"Is that an option?" Naruto asked. "Yeet! I'm doing that."

"Same," Asa chimed in.

"I'll search the dorm, since no one else seems to want to," Geretsuna said.

"I'll look in the dorms!" Bunko volunteered.

"I'm looking for Kenta," Masako said, concerned.

"Me too!" Mitsu decided. "I won't let anyone feel left out!"

"One more for Kenta?" Verona asked.

"I'll do it," Tama said as he raised his hand.

"I guess I'll search the dorms," Fumiko shrugged.

"Yeah, why the hell not?" Komei decided. "I'll do dorms too."

"Dorms have like beds and shit right?" Sake asked. "I'm doing that because I have a monster headache."

"I think I'm stuck with looking elsewhere now," Jirou figured.

"It seems I am imburdened with the same task," Masakazu added.

 _I don't think that's a word..._

"So that's..." Masako scanned over the three groups. "Yukika, Verona, Mitsu, Tama, and I looking for Kenta... Geretsuna, Bunko, Sake, Komei, and Fumiko looking in the dorms... and Yurei, Naruto, Asa, Masakazu, and Jirou searching everywhere else."

"Yeah, sounds good…" Yukika said, beginning to stare off into space.

 _Wow I really think I got the best group possible. I feel awful for the people searching the other areas…_

 _This can't be real. I must be dreaming… I mean, I thought the tragedy ended…? No, this can't be real. I just need to wake up._

…

…

…

 _...This is real. I can't get out. No, I CAN get out… what am I thinking? I can't do that… I-I could never kill!_

 _...If I'm considering killing, even for a second, what are some of the others thinking? I glance at Masako and Tama, who were chatting. Maybe they're right. A tiny spark of consideration could lead to bad things. The sooner I purge the negativity from my mind, the better._

 _We split off into our groups and began our searches. We can make it through this, I know we can._


	2. Prologue Pt 2

_So… we split up into our groups. The first group of Fumiko, Komei, Bunko, Geretsuna, and Sake filed out of the gym to go look for the dorms. The second group of Yurei, Asa, Naruto, Masakazu, and Jirou left soon after, leaving just the five of us, Masako, Tama, Mitsu, Verona, and myself, in the gym to formulate a plan. We have to find Kenta… we just have to!_

"So, gang, what's the plan?" Tama said, looking at the four who remained.

"I imagine we should try to go upstairs and find Kenta," Verona said. "he could be literally anywhere, the little creep…"

"Hey, no need to call him a creep!" Mitsu exclaimed.

"Is that really the important part right now?" Verona replied.

"We just need to find him," Masako asserted. "That's what's important. Nothing else matters right now!"

"Wow when'd you get so randomly assertive?" Verona said, rolling her eyes.

"When I realized people might be killing each other!" Masako exclaimed.

"If he's dead, then who would have had the opportunity to do it?" Tama pondered. "Wouldn't the killer have to disappear too?"

"Guys! Let's not think so negatively!" Mitsu objected. "I'm sure Kenta's just fine. He probably just needed some time alone to process everything!"

"We can't rule out the possibility that the worst has happened..." Tama said solemnly. "But we shouldn't automatically assume the worst either."

"Prepare for the worst, hope for the best," Yukika nodded.

"We should stick together," Masako decided. "Anyone going alone is just begging to get killed."

"Something tells me that Naruto kid is probably going alone," Verona chuckled.

"Hey!" Mitsu objected.

"Dark humor is a coping mechanism, isn't it?" Verona shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well, it's not one I appreciate," Mitsu pouted.

"I'm serious, guys," Masako said urgently. "We need to hurry up and find Kenta. Asap."

"What's the rush?" Yukika asked curiously.

"If we don't know where Kenta is, we don't know what he's thinking," Masako said anxiously. "And he could be planning something for all we know!"

"He would never do that," Mitsu said. "Kenta is our friend! There's no way he'd betray us like that!"

"We've known him for maybe an hour, tops," Verona pointed out.

"Guys," Tama interrupted. "Masako's right. We need to get a move on. Standing around and arguing isn't going to solve anything."

"We should split up," Mitsu decided. "Masako and Verona can go together, and then Tama and Yukika can come with me."

"I thought we were sticking together?" Yukika asked.

"No one's going to be alone," Mitsu smiled. "So there's no problem."

"No, that's stupid," Tama said bluntly. "No need to complicate things further! We should just move forward together as a group."

"Okay!" Mitsu cheerily replied. Tama looked at the cheerleader.

"Um… okay," Tama continued. "So, where do we want to search first? First floor, second floor, third floor, fourth?"

"May as well work our way up, the others are probably already going to the above floors," Yukika said.

"So we're starting on the first floor, then?" Mitsu asked.

"May as well," Verona shrugged.

 _Alright, I think we're finally getting somewhere. Let's save Kenta!_

The five students then marched cheerily out of the gym, ready to save their friend. Then they noticed that five students were standing at the entrance to the stairwell to the second floor, the five students meant to search the rest of the school.

 _What the…? Shouldn't they be on the third floor yet?_

"IT! WON'T! OPEN!" Yurei screamed while shaking the gate.

"What's going on?" Yukika said, walking up to the five. "There's a gate?"

"No fuckin' SHIT there's a gate!" Yurei exclaimed, kicking at the gate.

"There's no need to get so worked up, dude," Verona said, looking at the skateboarder.

"No NEED?!" Yurei exclaimed. "There's no NEED for us to be locked up here, but we are!"

 _As tactless as he is… he's right. Why are we even locked up here? What is causing this?_

"Alright alright no need to get all worked up," Jirou said to Yurei, who was banging on the gate. "We just need to get to the bottom of this!"

"I guess all we can do is look for Kenta…" Asa said, concerned.

"Fuck that shit, I'm going to my room," Naruto said, walking away.

"You're not going to help?" Yukika said, looking at the memelord.

"Fuck no I'm not," Naruto laughed. "Why would I worry about his dumb ass? Probably already got himself killed. Kid's an easy target."

"An easy target?" Mitsu frowned.

"You're not going anywhere," Jirou said. "We still have several rooms to explore here that aren't a part of the dorm area." He turned to Tama. "If we find Kenta, we'll send someone to let you all know."

"I appreciate it," Tama smiled.

"So where are we going to look, then?" Yukika pondered.

"It's entirely likely that he's taken respite in the shelter which has been designated unto him," Masakazu suggested.

"Meaning...?" Verona asked.

"He's probably in his dorm room," Asa explained.

 _That does make sense... almost too much sense._

"We should check on that," Masako decided. "Come on, guys. Let's leave them to their search. We have to find Kenta!"

"The dormitory area is over yonder," Masakazu stated as he pointed away from the caged-off stairs. "Or at the very least that's where the last five left, and have not returned."

"Thanks!" Mitsu chirped.

Masako, Mitsu, Tama, Verona, and Yukika headed towards the area where Masakazu pointed, leaving Asa, Jirou, Masakazu, Naruto, and Yurei alone.

"Alright, with those buffoons out of the way," Masakazu began. "Let us search this floor!"

"Thanks for the narration, genius," , pushing past him. "So, does anyone have any ideas

"Let's just do the logical thing and go through each room in the order we reach them," Asa said, looking down the hall.

"Are the bathrooms even worth checking?" Yurei asked as he walked away from the gate and looked to his left.

"Perhaps not for a simpleton such as you, but people such as myself are more thorough than that," Masakazu boasted. "I shall search the women's restroom."

"Um?" Asa said.

"I don't know what you think you'll find in there, but it's not much different from a men's restroom," Jirou said.

"And you'd know?" Naruto asked, an eyebrow raised.

"I've been in the girls' room before if that's what you're asking," Jirou said.

"Well, I gotta take a piss anyway," Yurei shrugged as he entered the men's room.

"Same, actually," Asa admitted as she entered the women's room.

Jirou, Masakazu, and Naruto stood there in wait. A minute later, Yurei left the restroom.

"Yeah, it's a normal fucking restroom," Yurei said. "Are we done here yet? I'm getting fucking bored."

"Yep looks normal to me," Asa said, walking out of the restroom.

"So that was totally useless, alright!" Naruto said, walking off.

"We've still got plenty of this floor to search so don't get ya panties in a wad, honey," Jirou said, getting in Naruto's face.

"Get the fuck out of my face, trash," Naruto said, raising his voice.

"Alright, let us get this search back on track," Masakazu said, pointing towards the next door. "What is that door?"

"Probably the nurse's office," Asa said, looking at the door. The five walked towards the room and burst into the nurse's office.

"What the-?!" Masakazu exclaimed, looking at the nurse's office. "How did you know this was the nurse's office?!"

"It was on the door, genius," Asa said, rolling her eyes.

"Ah, I see," Masakazu said. "I knew that! I was just testing you!"

"You guys are fucking obnoxious normies," Yurei said, walking out of the nurse's office.

"What does normie even mean?" Asa asked.

"Only fucking normies ask what normie means," Yurei explained.

"Look who's talking, normie _trash_." Naruto spat.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING TRASH?!" Yurei exclaimed, getting in Naruto's face.

Asa sighed loudly, and she, Jirou, and Masakazu walked away from the two.

"Those two are whacked out," Jirou said, walking down the hallway.

"Agreed," Asa said.

"I must say those two will be nightmarish to live with, for sure," Masakazu rolled his eyes, referring to the Meme Lord and Skater.

"Let's hope we get out of here before they become too much to bear…" Asa said, solemnly.

The three walked up to a small door, they carefully opened the door to reveal a small, packed room with all sorts of objects scattered about seemingly at random.

"Is this some sort of… merchant camp?" Masakazu said, looking around the cramped space.

"It looks like a supply closet," Jirou said, looking at the tiny room.

"Well obviously he's not in here, so let's just go on," Asa said, peering around.

The three walked out of the small room and noticed the two they left behind standing right at the door, waiting for them.

"I see you abandoned us," Yurei said.

"Not really abandoned per se," Asa replied. "but you two seemed to be having a lover's quarrel, so there was no reason for us to intrude upon that, wouldn't you say?"

"Lover's quarrel?" Naruto exclaimed, looking at Yurei before turning his attention back to Asa.

"It was a joke," Asa said, rolling her eyes.

"Of course it was, I knew that!" Naruto said indignantly as Yurei rolled his eyes.

"Stop this needless bickering so we can get back to the important matters at hand," Masakazu said. "Like, for instance, trying to find the missing boy?"

"I guess you're right," Asa said, continuing down the hallway.

The five continued down the hall to the next door, marked "A/V Room", Masakazu went to turn the doorknob, only to realize the room was locked.

"Hm?" Masakazu said, wiggling the doorknob.

"What's the matter? Can you not open doors?" Yurei scoffed.

"Not locked ones!" Masakazu exclaimed, swinging back to face the skateboarder. "You think you can do any better?"

"Stand aside and watch the man do this," Yurei said, walking up to the door. He began kicking at the door repeatedly. Soon enough the door began making splintering noises and suddenly the five heard a loud pop behind them.

"Just WHAT do you think you're doing?" A loud, shrill voice protruded from behind them, they knew the voice. The five turned around to see Monokuma standing in the hallway right behind them.

"Monokuma!" Asa exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm making sure Yurei doesn't get killed for violating a school rule!" Monokuma chuckled. "That'd be absolutely unBEARable! Upupupupu~!"

"The fuck? It says we can search the school at our own discretion," Yurei spat.

"Yeah, I'm not seeing anything that says we're breaking any rules here," Jirou said as he looked through the rules section of his e-Handbook.

"Swipe a bit further!" Monokuma said jovially. "I just added it! A shiny new rule, ta da!"

" _Rule #4b: The only exception is locked doors, which shall remain locked for student protection. Violation will require the strictest punishment!"_

"Fuck's sake..." Naruto muttered

"Isn't it wonderful?" Monokuma laughed. "I love rules, and it'd be such a shame if one of you did something to compromise them!"

"This rule didn't even exist until now!" Yurei shouted.

"Rules always exist, even if you're not aware of them, aren't they?" Monokuma mused. "The laws of gravity were always in effect, even before Isaac Newton pointed them out."

"You're just trying to distract from the fact that you didn't think to enact that rule until now," Asa said flatly.

"Probably," Monokuma shrugged.

"You think, if we find enough loopholes, he'll keep adding rules until we get to Rule 34?" Naruto snickered.

"Considering this new rule is listed as 4b, I doubt it," Masakazu said.

"Ugh! No one GETS it!" Naruto cried.

"I get it, it just wasn't very funny," Jirou said.

"Let's just keep looking," Yurei said, disgruntled.

"Did we check that room over there?" Masakazu asked as he pointed to a room behind them.

"I don't think so," Asa said.

The fivesome moved towards the door in question, which was labeled "School Store".

"A school store?" Naruto asked. "Fuck, I don't have any money."

"Oh, there's no need to worry about that!" said the voice of Monokuma from behind him. Naruto jumped in fright. Monokuma continued speaking. "Anything at the school store can be taken free of charge. Yen is 100% useless here at Hope's Peak Academy!"

"Tell that to the reserve course students," Asa scoffed.

"However!" Monokuma continued, ignoring Asa. "There _is_ a nifty gachapon machine in there. The MonoMono Machine! You can spend Monocoins on neat-o prizes with the MonoMono Machine. Who knows? Maybe you kids will find something cool."

"And from where do we procure these Monocoins... not that I care," Masakazu asked.

"Oh, you'll find them lying around," Monokuma chuckled. "Of course, there _is_ a way to get them in bulk, but... oh, you'll see what I mean eventually."

"There is some pretty cool stuff in there," Jirou said with his mouth full of chips.

"When did you get those?" Asa asked.

"Like ten seconds ago," Jirou said. "Want one?"

"Not really," Asa said.

"Fine, more for me then!" Jirou said, eating more chips.

"Alright, how much more even is there to explore around here?" Naruto asked, looking around.

"Well, there is that huge door over there…" Asa said, pointing at a giant red door at the end of a long hallway.

"Oh my god that's so… tacky!" Jirou exclaimed, looking at the door. "Who said red went well with this color scheme? Whoever did needs to be fired, yuck."

"Is that really something we need to worry about?" Masakazu asked, shaking his head.

"You just don't understand," Jirou said, shrugging.

"Clearly we don't understand your pansy-assed crying about color schemes and shit," Yurei said.

"The fuck did you just say to me?" Jirou said, walking up to Yurei.

"I said your pansy-assed bullshit doesn't matter," Yurei repeated sternly.

"Clearly this group was a really bad idea in the first place," Asa said. "Too much idiotic testosterone."

"I fear you may actually be correct in that assumption," Masakazu said. "Regardless, are we searching that room or not? Who wants to test out the door?"

"I-I'd rather not," Naruto said, inching away.

Masakazu sighed loudly, "I guess I shall test this one too." He walked up to the door and tugged on the handle, but the door did not move. "Well, I supposed this door is also locked. Quite a shame, I wanted to know what was behind there…"

Suddenly, another pop was heard and Monokuma was once more standing right behind Masakazu.

"Stop doing that!" Masakazu exclaimed, backing into the door.

"Upupupupu! Did I scare you?" Monokuma chuckled. "What a baby! Anyways, behind that door is an elevator to the courtroom!"

"Courtroom?" Masakazu asked.

"Courtroom!" Monokuma echoed. "Whenever one of your classmates ends up becoming blackened, the class trial shall be held in the room behind these doors!"

"What do you mean, when?" Asa asked.

"I mean he obviously means when someone wants the fuck out of here, they'll kill," Yurei laughed.

"How do you know someone's gonna kill?" Jirou asked, alarmed. "What are you planning?"

"I mean, isn't it fucking obvious?" Yurei asked. "Sixteen dynamic personalities locked in a small area? I highly doubt we're all gonna stay peaceful forever. That's just a pathetic pipe dream. May as well fucking adapt while you can."

"How the fuck can you have that mindset?" Asa looked at the skateboarder in pure revulsion.

"I kinda have to agree with her, honestly," Naruto said. "I mean I'm all for good nihilist memes but like, what the fuck?"

"Yes, yeeeees," Monokuma moaned. "Let your hatred for him grow. Maybe it'll develop into something... _deeper_."

"I ship it," Jirou remarked. Asa and Naruto turned to look at Jirou. "What? I know a cute couple when I see one!"

"Whatever!" Monokuma said. "Yeah, that place is off limits until the moment of truth! Upupupu!"

And with that, the bear disappeared in the blink of an eye. The five students looked around, confused and scared.

"Ugh… that bear creeps me the fuck out," Naruto said, shuddering.

"You and me both, girl," Jirou said.

"Well, other than those classrooms which I highly doubt someone like him would go to since that's all there really is to explore around here… shall we go report to the others?" Masakazu asked.

"Nah I thought we should just walk around here a bit long, yes we should go report ya goddamn idiot!" Yurei said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh just shut the fuck up, dude," Naruto said.

"Fuck you, cunt," Yurei retorted angrily.

"Girls, for fuck's sake can we just get to the others," Jirou said, thoroughly exhausted with the two.

"Fine," Naruto said.

The five students then turned and walked towards the door to the main living quarters, ready to inform the others about their findings.

As the five students were searching the first floor, another group of five comprising of Fumiko, Komei, Geretsuna, Bunko, and Sake were searching the dorm area of the school. The five began looking around the dorm area to see what they could find.

"Welp, where's my room?" Sake asked.

"You will not be going to your room," Geretsuna huffed. "You will help us search the area, as you volunteered to."

"Fuuuuuuuuck," Sake groaned.

"Should we split up?" Komei asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Fumiko admitted. "Not to make any judgments here, but... Monokuma _did_ say that thing... about killing..."

"What thing?" Bunko asked.

"The small one makes a good point," Geretsuna snorted. "Can't trust anyone to be by themselves. But where should we look first."

"I don't _fuckin' know_. How 'bout the the fuckin', the fucking that place," Sake said as she pointed to the door directly to the right of the door through which they entered.

"Might as well," Komei decided.

The five entered the door to find themselves in what looked like a cafeteria room.

"A cafeteria?" Geretsuna asked. "Are we to assume there will be food?"

"No, this place is for the biweekly dance parties," Komei remarked.

"Really?" Bunko asked. "Monokuma never said anything about that."

The other four shot Bunko a look.

"What?" Bunko asked.

"Screw that, I need to know if there's booze!" Sake shouted.

"You kids, I swear," Monokuma sighed as he appeared behind the students.

"Oh!" Fumiko gasped. "Where did you come from?"

"Well you see, when a mommy bear and a daddy bear love each other very much..." Monokuma started. "Let's just say there's a reason the beds Goldilocks tried to sleep in were so unstable."

"Gross," Komei winced.

"If you bothered to explore the room further..." Monokuma continued. "You'd see there's a kitchen in the back there."

"But is. There. Booze?" Sake asked in a deadly serious demeanor.

"Goodness me! What sort of headmaster do you take me for?" Monokuma asked, seemingly offended. "You children are underage! You shouldn't have access to alcohol."

"You sure? It'd make things a lot more... interesting," Sake said with a big grin. "It might, I don't know, encourage someone to commit murder..."

"Hm, you drive a hard bargain," Monokuma thought aloud. "I'll consider it."

"Love ya to pieces," Sake told the bear.

"What about tendies?!" Geretsuna hastily added. "Are there tendies?!"

Monokuma groaned. "Yes. There are frozen chicken tenders in-"

Geretsuna made the closest thing he could muster to a dash with his heelies towards the kitchen.

"What's wrong with him?" Komei asked, looking at Geretsuna.

"I must get to my beloved TENDIES!" Geretsuna slid across the floor on his heelies to the kitchen.

"Hold it you fat fuck!" Sake exclaimed, causing Geretsuna to freeze out of nowhere. "You're not getting you fucking tenders or whatever the fuck until I get fucking WASTED!"

"He just said no alcohol, though!" Geretsuna whined, still balanced on his heelies.

"So fucking what? I'm the Ultimate Mixologist! I'll find a way! I'll find a waaaaay" Sake exclaimed, running towards the kitchen.

"I guess I can't stop you doing that, but get people drunk and baaaad things might happen upupupu~!" Monokuma snickered as he disappeared without a trace.

"Well then," Komei said.

"So fucking what? Still gonna get wasted!" Sake cackled as she ran to the kitchen to brew alcohol.

"Come _on,_ " Komei said, clearly irritated. "You guys can get wasted later, we have more important shit to do."

"What could be more important than booze?" Sake asked.

"Or tendies?!" Geretsuna sobbed.

"What the fuck are tendies?" Komei asked.

"Only the most delicious food in the land!" Geretsuna exclaimed.

"The land?" Fumiko questioned.

"Yes, the land!" Geretsuna marvelled, reaching for the sky. "The marvelous world of tendie land! It's real, y'know! They try to tell me it isn't, but it is!"

"...Isn't that the only food in this so called 'tendie-land'?" Bunko asked.

"No!" Geretsuna exclaimed. "There's Doritos and Mountain Dew! And potatoes as far as the eye can see! But only the sweet succulent tendies reign supreme!"

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Komei looked at Geretsuna, legitimately concerned.

"Nothing!" Geretsuna exclaimed.

"I highly doubt that…" Fumiko muttered.

The five students then walked across the courtyard to a room only separated by a curtain. They walked into a small room with lockers lining the walls.

"So this is just… a locker room?" Fumiko asked, looking around.

"There seem to be no cameras here…" Komei said. "That's actually really weird."

Sake laughed, "They probably don't wanna get a suit or some shit! They probably couldn't handle my bodacious body, though! Ahaha!"

"Ooooh I know I can't!" Geretsuna said, eyeing up Sake.

"Don't bite off more than you can chew, big boy," Sake said, winking at the conspiracy theorist.

"As much as I love this awkward sexual tension, there really doesn't seem to be much going on here…" Komei interrupted. "There's a door there, anyone wanna go check it out?"

"Oh! I will!" Bunko exclaimed. "I wanna be useful!"

"Alright then," Fumiko said with a small smile. "Then go check out that room! We'll be right behind you."

"Okay!" Bunko grinned and walked over to the door, she slowly turned the knob and suddenly steam began bellowing out of the room. Bunko immediately began screaming.

"What the?!" Geretsuna exclaimed. "The demons of Selzar are here! I knew they'd come for me one day!"

"It's a sauna," Komei said curtly.

"O-oh…" Bunko said, looking in as the smoke dissipated.

"Well this was a colossal waste of time," Komei turned around and walked out of the room.

"W-wait!" Bunko exclaimed as she scurried after Komei. "But where do we search next?"

"Probably the next door," Komei said flatly, walking towards the door adjacent to the locker room.

Komei and Bunko, followed by Geretsuna, Sake, and Fumiko walked into a small room with washing machines and dryers all around the room.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out what this room is," Komei said.

"Yeah, even I know what this is!" Bunko said, confidently.

"Good job!" Fumiko said, encouragingly. Bunko smiled broadly.

"Well, I guess there isn't much to search here!" Geretsuna exclaimed. "I mean… unless someone is hiding in the washing machines…"

"Hiding in the washing machines?" Bunko asked. "Wouldn't that hurt?"

"Yeah, and that's why I highly doubt he's in one of these," Komei said. "We may as well go now honestly."

"That's it?" Sake asked. "Not some overly long conflicting conversation or some shit? You're fuckin' boring!"

"Shut up," Komei said.

The five slowly walked from the laundry room and across the courtyard to a small hallway adjacent to the dorms. As they approached the end of the hallway they realized that in between them and the stairs to the second floor stands a large, metal gate.

"What the!?" Geretsuna exclaimed yet again.

"Is that your only reaction to surprising things, tubby?" Sake asked.

"It's not like I control what I say when I am scared, Miss Sake!" Geretsuna said, glaring at the girl.

"I could make a joke but I won't!" Sake exclaimed.

"Enough! What's the meaning of this gate?" Komei exclaimed, eying the gate.

Suddenly, a loud popping noise was heard and suddenly Monokuma was standing right behind all of them.

"Upupupu~!" Monokuma cackled loudly. "You rang?"

"Yeah! What's up with this gate?" Komei asked the bear.

"Oh that silly old thing!" Monokuma exclaimed. "That's just to keep you guys from getting too far too fast! What's the fun if you can find everything immediately?"

"What is there to find?" Fumiko asked quietly.

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out! Maybe!" Monokuma laughed as he said this.

"Your laugh is really cold…" Bunko said. "It scares me."

"Oh no! Did I hurt your feelings?" Monokuma asked mockingly. "Gosh, that's so despairing! Upupupu~!"

"You know you are quite obnoxious!" Geretsuna exclaimed.

"Look who's calling the kettle black, kid!" Monokuma replied.

"Hmph!" Geretsuna huffed loudly as Monokuma laughed.

"Whatever! Don't worry about the gate!" Monokuma exclaimed. "Look! A door! I wonder what's over there!"

Monokuma pointed towards a door to the side of the stairwell. The five students looked over at it and suddenly, Monokuma disappeared. The five looked around rapidly looking for the bear to no avail.

"Where did he go?" Komei exclaimed.

"Who fuckin' cares?" Sake said. "Let's just go look at the room!"

The five walked into a large, grey room with shelves lining the walls as far as the eye could see. Any type of supplies imaginable: food, water, bedding, clothing, it was all there. The five gazed around the room, amazed at all of the supplies.

"Wow!" Geretsuna marvelled. "There seems to be enough here to last a lifetime!"

"But is there booze?!" Sake exclaimed, looking around. "If not, I'm not interested!"

"Is all you think about getting drunk?" Komei asked Sake.

"Yep!" Sake replied triumphantly.

"Anyways… it seems that there are years worth of supplies here… but why are so many supplies needed?" Fumiko asked.

Suddenly Monokuma popped up behind them once again. "Excellent question, Miss Kitsu!"

"Stop creeping up on us!" Bunko exclaimed.

"Hmm… nah!" Monokuma snickered loudly as Bunko looked at him angrily. "The reason is because you guys will living here for the rest of your lives! May as well give you all of the necessities! I'm not a monster!"

"Yes you are!" Bunko exclaimed. "You're awful!"

"Calm down, Bunko," Fumiko said, comforting Bunko. "Don't' let him get to you!

"Ugh!" Bunko exclaimed loudly, tears in her eyes. "I hate this!"

"Upupupupu~!" Monokuma laughed. "Ahahahaha! These tears are so absolutely despairful! It warms my heart. As much as I love tormenting children though, I have more important things to do! Buh-bye!"

"Wait!" Komei exclaimed, but sure enough Monokuma was gone in the blink of an eye. "Fuck!"

Sake then dashes out from the back of the storage room. "Don't worry everyone! We have booz-" Sake then looked around at Bunko and Fumiko embracing, Komei swearing, and Geretsuna in the corner panicking.

"I see I've come at the wrong time..." Sake muttered under her breath.

 _What is going on here?_

The five students turned around and noticed the third group: Yukika, Masako, Verona, Mitsu, and Tama were standing in the doorway. They ran in and quickly made it to the other five.

"We heard screaming, what's wrong?!" Yukika exclaimed, running up to the five.

"Fucking Monokuma!" Komei exclaimed, looking around the room. "He was here!"

"Monokuma was… here?!" Masako shrieked, grabbing her hair. "No way… no way! There's no way he could've been here!"

"Well believe it, because he was!" Geretsuna replied from the corner of the room. "I almost dropped my tendies! Almost!"

"That would've been a tragedy!" Tama exclaimed. Komei looked at Tama, completely done with this conversation.

"Where'd he go, though?" Verona asked. "Surely he didn't just vanish into thin air!"

"That's exactly what he did, actually…" Fumiko said slowly. "One moment he was here… the next he was gone."

 _Really? Now Monokuma can just vanish in thin air?_

"So what happened to make him show up?" Yukika asked the group.

"It seems like every time we ask questions, he shows up!" Sake exclaimed loudly.

"Why?" Yukika asked.

"Don't fuckin' tempt fate like that, idiot," Komei said flatly.

"Did you guys manage to search the whole area?" Masako asked curiously.

"Most of it," Geretsuna said as he pushed his glasses up. "We haven't searched the dorm areas or any rooms around it."

"No sign of Kenta?" Yukika asked.

"Sorry..." Fumiko frowned.

 _Damn. Where could he be?_

"Maybe he went to his dorm room. I dunno," Verona shrugged.

"That's a good idea," Tama smiled. "Let's check there, gang!"

"We'll keep looking around for any helpful rooms or something," Komei told the other group.

"I will not rest until we find the liquor cabinet," Sake said solemnly.

"Is drinking your only personality?" Geretsuna scoffed.

"Is being an awful perma-virgin yours?" Sake retorted.

"...Carry on," Geretsuna said.

"Alright alright everyone!" Tama interrupted. "Let's go look for Kenta somewhere else! He clearly isn't wherever you guys just searched!"

"Didn't we just go over this?" Komei said.

"Oh, right! Yes! The dorms!" Tama exclaimed.

 _This guy…_

"So… let's go check that before Tama forgets again," Verona quipped.

"Forgets what?" Tama asked.

"Never mind that…" Fumiko said. "Let's go!"

"Oh, we're doing that now," Komei said flatly. "That's fine, just ignore me."

So the ten students walked out of the storage room and out into the hallway towards the dorms. They turned into a red hallway with dim lighting, doors lining the hall. Each door had the face of one of the students on it.

"Oh, cute!" Mitsu exclaimed. "It looks like the doors all have our little faces on them!"

"Fina-fucking-ly!" Sake groaned.

"You're not resting until we find Kenta," Verona chided.

"Literally kill yourself," Sake responded.

"Actually, Kenta's room is right here next to Sake's," Yukika pointed out.

"So knock already," Komei said impatiently.

"Why am I the leader again?" Yukika asked.

"Just do it, man!" Masako cried. "I'm getting anxious."

 _Aren't clowns supposed to make other people anxious, not the other way around?_

Yukika sighed before gently rapping on Kenta's door, which was met by a brief shriek from the other side of the door.

"That doesn't sound good," Bunko pointed out.

"Kenta? Is that you?" Yukika asked.

"I forget, is it against the rules to break down doors?" Komei asked as she cracked her knuckles.

"Yeah, it looks like they just added that rule, actually," Verona said as she checked her e-Handbook.

"Of fucking course they did," Komei sighed.

"This means we know where the twerp is, right?" Sake asked.

"I think so?" Yukika answered. He tried knocking again. "Kenta? It's me, Yukika!"

After a brief pause, Kenta's door opened a crack. He seemed to be keeping it from opening too much with a chain lock. Kenta peeked through the crack of the door, saw ten people looking directly at him, and immediately shut his door.

"Yep, he's still not dead. I'm taking a nap," Sake said flippantly as she left into her own room.

"How could you be so callous?" Mitsu frowned as Sake left.

"Ignore her," Tama suggested.

"Maybe he's just nervous that there are so many people," Yukika suggested.

"Yeah, you guys go keep searching," Verona coaxed. "Kenta considers me and Yukika his friends for whatever reason. Let us talk to him."

"That's fair," Fumiko nodded.

"Stay safe!" Masako urged.

The eight students shuffled off into different directions, leaving Yukika and Verona in front of Kenta's door.

"Kenta? Everyone else is gone," Yukika assured as he knocked on the door.

A brief, metallic sound came from the other side of the door, likely Kenta undoing the chain lock, and Kenta opened it.

"Come in," Kenta said weakly.

Yukika and Verona entered Kenta's room.

 _It's weird to think that I'm in someone else's room before I even get the chance to go into my own, but I'm glad Kenta's safe if nothing else._

"Sorry if I caused a fuss," Kenta apologized morosely.

"Is something wrong?" Verona asked.

"Of course something's wrong!" Kenta cried. "I just wanted to go to Hope's Peak and meet new friends and graduate and become successful and now all of a sudden some jackass is starting up this killing game thing again?! I thought the despair had died!"

Kenta began hyperventilating. Yukika and Verona each put their hand on Kenta's shoulder.

"Well, we're here for you," Verona said, not smiling, but with a certain warmness to her.

"You can trust us," Yukika added.

"Can I?" Kenta asked. "Think about it: the last killing games were caused by a Hope's Peak student in the name of despair. Who's to say that someone here isn't doing the same?"

 _He could have a point... but I don't know._

"That doesn't make any sense," Verona said as she shook her head. "We were all there when Monokuma was there. Nobody could have been controlling him."

"That's what they want you to think!" Kenta cried. He sighed. "Sorry if I'm being too loud. I'm just scared, you know?"

"We're all scared," Yukika assured Kenta.

"But hiding from everyone is just going to make you look suspicious," Verona added.

"You think?" Kenta asked.

"Well yeah. Someone who spends their time away from everyone else is probably planning something," Verona explained.

"Someone might kill me if they think I'm suspicious, huh?" Kenta asked quietly.

"Probably," Verona shrugged.

 _Verona's being a bit more blunt than I'd choose to be, at least out loud, but she seems to be doing a decent enough job consoling him._

"You're right," Kenta said. "Give me a couple minutes to calm down, and I'll come out of my room."

"We'll tell the others to meet up at the gym," Verona decided. "Come join us when you're ready."

"...Alright," Kenta said with a slight smile.

 _This moment… this is the hope we need to survive! Verona and Kenta are stronger than despair! Stronger than this! We will survive!_

The two walked out of Kenta's room and into the hallway, which was now deserted.

"Well… I'm glad he's alright," Yukika said, relieved. "I thought for a second we had lost him."

"Thankfully not, I don't know if I could've taken a murder so early," Verona replied.

"I don't know if I can take a murder ever," Yukika said, his face turning pale.

"Eh, I'm no stranger to seeing people die," Verona said frankly.

"O-Oh," Yukika responded.

"I might tell you about it later, might not," Verona said. "For now we should gather the others into the gym."

"R-Right," Yukika nodded.

 _Well now I'm_ really _curious_.

After some time, the fifteen students sans Kenta arrived one by one in the gym, however as they waited, Kenta never arrived. No matter how long they waited, The Lucky Student never showed up at the gym.

 _Something's gotta be wrong… I thought we had gotten through to him… could we have been wrong? Now's not the time. We can't look for him again. We've wasted enough time as it is._

"Alright, let us commence this… meeting," Masakazu said solemnly.

"Yes, let's!" Tama exclaimed. "First matter of business, what was found in the first floor!"

"We found basically nothing," Jirou said. "Just a bunch of empty rooms. I mean there was this room with a weird machine with Monokuma's face in it."

"I concur. There was really not much of note." Masakazu agreed.

"I haven't found a reason to live yet, but otherwise it was fine," Naruto grumbled.

"So… nothing?" Verona rushed.

"Don't fucking rush me, bitch," Yurei said to Verona.

"Who are you talking like that to?" Verona said walking towards Yurei.

"Alright, alright!" Tama exclaimed. "Enough of this! We will get nowhere with this!"

 _He's right, we're getting nowhere already. Someone has to have something to bring to the table._

"So, what did the second group find?" Yukika asked.

"We found the kitchen!" Bunko exclaimed, proudly.

"Yep! We also found the storage room, with lots of supplies for us to live comfortably." Fumiko added.

"That's it?" Yurei said, angrily.

"Yeah? Did your crew of dumbasses find anything more than that?" Komei retorted. "It's not like you guys brought much to the table."

"We found a nurse's office," Asa recalled.

"There's also a school store," Jirou added. "And, yes, to answer the question on everyone's mind, they've got chips."

 _Literally nobody was wondering that._

"Well that's a load off my mind," Geretsuna said with a sigh of relief.

 _Okay, I set myself up for that one._

"There's also a gate preventing us from reaching higher ground," Masakazu added. "Not even I could bring it to falter."

"You didn't even try. That was all me, dipshit," Yurei spat.

"We found a gate, too," Geretsuna mentioned.

"So the second floor is completely blocked off, huh?" Tama asked. "So much for being free to search the school."

"Well shit, from what I've seen, what we have is pretty cozy," Verona said as she idly put her hands behind her head. "You know, for a situation where we're being held against our will and forced to kill each other."

"Beds are actually pretty comfy," Sake nodded. "Wish our fuckin' showers didn't have cameras in them though."

 _You weren't shy about showing your body off to me when we first met..._

"The human body is a beautiful thing," Bunko said matter-of-factly.

"And yet humanity is one of the ugliest things in this world," Naruto said with an empty smile.

"That's not true at all!" Mitsu cried. "Each and every one of you is a beautiful soul and I won't be told any differently!"

"Guys, we're getting off-track here," Masako interrupted. "So, Yukika, Verona, you said Kenta would be here. Where is he?"

"I'm not sure," Yukika admitted.

"He probably pussied out again," Yurei scoffed.

"That or he's plotting to kill one of us," Naruto said with an even bigger empty smile.

"...Oh," Fumiko frowned.

"Naruto, stop that," Masako winced. "Kenta is not going to kill anybody. No one here is killing anyone!"

"Is that naive optimism, or a threat?" Naruto chuckled.

"What is your problem?" Verona glared.

"It's like I said: people are foul creatures," Naruto explained. "Driven only by what will benefit them. You may not want anyone to kill anyone. But being locked in this building with fifteen other teenagers? Someone's going to go stir crazy. Who knows? It might even be you."

"It sounds like you _want_ us to kill each other," Jirou said with disgust.

"Maybe I do," Naruto chuckled. "Shit, kill me if you really want to. I've been after that sweet release for years."

 _It wouldn't be a Hope's Peak class if we didn't have a sociopath, would it? Give me a break..._

Everybody began murmuring to each other about the topic of killing and the fear that someone might do it.

"That's enough!" Masako shouted. The room fell silent. "Nobody is killing each other. That is final. If anyone so much as _considers_ killing someone, talk to me about it. Talking with other people is the best way to let your negative emotions out."

"Yeah!" Yukika said. "That's the spirit! We have to do our best to survive, no matter what!"

"Agreed!" Tama exclaimed.

"I suppose so," Masakazu said solemnly.

"Oh, okay," Naruto laughed. "If that's how we're gonna play."

Several people looked at Naruto weirdly.

"I guess that's all for today…" Yukika said to the others. "No need to stick around here all day. We need to make ourselves at home."

"What about Kenta?" Fumiko asked.

 _That was the question, wasn't it. What about Kenta, though? He seemed alright when me and Verona went to talk to him, but he didn't show up. I feel like something's off about that guy, and I don't know what._

"I'm sure he's fine," Yukika replied. "Probably just tired, or something."

"Well, alright," Fumiko said with a clear distrusting tone in her voice.

Soon the thirteen other students left the area, leaving only Yukika and Verona in the large gym.

"He's not okay, is he," Verona said softly.

"I don't think so, sadly. And I thought we had gotten through to him!" Yukika said, angrily.

"Well, I guess he's just gonna have to work this shit out on his own, you know?" Verona replied. "Nobody can force him to change. He has to do it himself."

"Yeah… I guess you're right," Yukika said. "Hopefully he gets better."

"We'd better catch up to the others," Verona said. "They might begin to wonder where we went off to."

Yukika chuckled slightly, "Yeah, we'd better."

 _And that's how my life at Hope's Peak Academy begun. I've already made a couple friends - well, one friend and one weird guy who I'm kind of friendly with. Also I wish I could have met them in less dire circumstances. But Masako's right. We can always talk it out if things get too negative. Communication is key to winning MOBAs, so I know what she means when she says that talking can save people's lives. Granted, people's actual lives are on the line, not just avatars in a game. But it's the same principle. Right?_

 _Things are going to be alright. At least... I hope they will..._


	3. Chapter 1: Daily Life: Part 1

**Chapter 1: A Written Demise - Daily Life**

* * *

 _We never did find Kenta that day._

 _A couple times one of us would knock on his door but not get a response. He wasn't anywhere else, and if he was, he was being awfully stealthy about it. Although somehow I doubt someone like him even knows the meaning of the word 'subtlety'._

Ding dong, bing bong.

 _What the hell?_

Yukika sat on his bed, idly staring at the ceiling when the sound of a bell rang throughout his room. Suddenly, the monitor that was hung to the right of his bathroom door turned on, revealing Monokuma smiling smugly.

"Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement," Monokuma said. "It is now 10 pm. As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then... sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite..."

 _Even now, that bear is taunting all of us… we can't escape from him. He's all encompassing in this horrible environment that nobody can get away. I wish I had never come to this horrible place. Why did this have to happen? I…_

Yukika then drifted off into a restless sleep for the night, until suddenly there was a light knocking at the door.

 _Wh-?! Who could that be?!_

Yukika walked to the door slowly and opened it. To his surprise, Kenta was on the other side, his hands in his central hoodie pocket.

"Kenta?!" Yukika gasped.

"SHHH!" Kenta shushed as he quickly entered the room and closed the door as quietly as he could.

"What is it?" Yukika whispered urgently.

"I just didn't want anyone to know where I am," Kenta said. "I just felt like talking. It gets lonely being all alone, you know?"

 _Maybe don't hide from everyone else, then?_

"I'm about to go to bed," Yukika grumbled.

"I see..." Kenta said, sounding disappointed.

 _Hmm… maybe I should hear him out. It might be the only chance we have to get him rehabilitated._

"You know, I can stay up a bit more, let's talk," Yukika said, and Kenta's face immediately lit up.

"Really? Kenta smiled. "Thank goodness. I really need to talk."

"What about?" Yukika asked.

"I'm just... I'm just anxious, you know?" Kenta sighed. "Holding it in probably won't help. Especially if I'm going to be carrying this thing around."

Kenta took his hands out of his hoodie pocket, revealing a chef knife in his right hand.

 _What the shit?!_

"What the shit?!" Yukika gasped.

"Shhhhh!" Kenta shushed urgently.

"Why do you have that?!" Yukika whisper-shouted.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Kenta said calmly. "I've been having an anxiety attack basically ever since Monokuma showed up. I'm freaking out. I don't want to die, man!"

"Well, isolating yourself from everyone and carrying that thing around isn't going to make people trust you any more," Yukika explained. "If you don't want to die, maybe try talking to people. Get them to like you. Make sure they don't _want_ you dead."

"So you think people are planning to kill me now?" Kenta asked anxiously.

"I can't say for sure," Yukika admitted. "I'd like to think they aren't, but a healthy amount of suspicion can't hurt. Just be friendly."

"Oh my god, oh my god…" Kenta mumbled under his breath.

"Calm down!" Yukika said, trying to reassure Kenta. "Just please, calm down!"

"How am I supposed to stay calm?!" Kenta cried.

"Deep breaths, man. Deep breaths," Yukika said as calmly as he could.

Kenta began hyperventilating.

 _Evidently, I'm not very good at comforting people. If we just had an Ultimate Therapist..._

"I'm going to the school store," Kenta decided. "I'm going to see if they have any coke or something."

"I really don't think drugs are the answer here," Yukika assured.

"No, like, Coca-Cola," Kenta chuckled. "That's usually what makes me feel better. Uh, I don't suppose you want to come with? You know, in case someone roams the halls at night for blood. At the very least you could be a witness to my murder."

"You're not going to die, Kenta," Yukika said. "But fine, I'll go with you."

 _Kenta's really driving me up a wall here… going out in the middle of the night to get soda? Give me a break! He's lucky I want him to be reintegrated into the group._

* * *

The two students left Yukika's room and walked quickly across the way to the main building. They looked around and started walking to the school store, however when they reached the corner, they began hearing loud coughing coming from down the hall, they quickly ran to the wall to peer around to the hallway.

"Yukika!" Kenta harshly whispered. "What's going on?"

"Shhh!" Yukika whispered to Kenta.

Yukika then looked around the corner hurriedly. He saw Naruto standing there, shaking slightly. Yukika then quickly turned back to Kenta.

"It's just Naruto," Yukika whispered. "He's not that threatening, right?"

"I-I guess not?" Kenta softly replied.

 _I guess it could be Yurei..._

The two then hesitated, and turned the corner. Naruto then looked up quickly and began coughing loudly.

"Hi… Naruto! How are ya?" Yukika said.

"Sick," Naruto grunted. "I'm fucking sick."

"Oh, okay," Kenta mumbled.

"Wait… what the fuck is _he_ doing here?" Naruto asked.

 _Honestly? Good question._

"Um, he asked me to escort him to the school store for some soda, that's all," Yukika said.

"Oh, well, watch your back, that bitch is dangerous," Naruto said. "Who fuckin' knows what's going on in his mind right now. He might be plotting to kill you right now!"

Naruto began cackling, but then started coughing violently. Yukika and Kenta cringed slightly.

"Wait, what are you doing here?" Kenta asked.

"Getting medicine, obviously," Naruto replied. "Did you miss the 'sick' part? Fucking genius."

"Oh god! Don't infect me!" Kenta cried.

"How'd you get sick?" Yukika asked Naruto.

"Fuck if I know," Naruto said. "It's just a cold, though. Nothing fatal. Unfortunately."

 _If this kid kills himself, do we still have to do a class trial for that?_

"Whatever, it doesn't matter I guess," Yukika said.

"Yeah, it doesn't. Don't try to interrogate me, you're just gonna piss me the fuck off," Naruto said, walking up to the two. "And be sure to keep this school shooter looking piece of shit away from me too."

Naruto jabbed Kenta in the chest with his finger and then pushed by them to walk away.

"Oh, and by the way, walking around with a knife is fucking pathetic. You're gonna get yourself killed with that thing," Naruto laughed.

"Hm?!" Kenta exclaimed.

"You thought I wouldn't notice a fucking knife in your hand? You're more of a filthy sperg than I thought you were!" Naruto exclaimed. Naruto then cackled and continued walking away, coughing obnoxiously.

"...Is it bad that I don't feel sorry for his illness one bit?" Kenta asked.

 _I hope not. I certainly don't._

Yukika shrugged in response.

"Come on, let's get you some coke so we can get to bed," Yukika coaxed.

"Oh, there's no way I'm sleeping tonight," Kenta said. "Anxiety and all that. Coke might be caffeinated, but at least that's not what's keeping me up, right?"

 _So... it's BETTER to be kept awake by crippling fear than by soda?_

* * *

 _I escorted Kenta to the school store without any more interruptions. Thankfully, they did have Coke available. Kenta took four bottles. Or, more accurately, he took two and then made me carry two more for him. Whatever keeps him calm, I guess._

 _After that, I was finally able to go to bed in peace._

* * *

 **Monokuma Theater!**

 **Do you like movies? I used to watch a lot of movies as a kid. I remember the Spongebob Squarepants movie. My favorite scene is when they make it to Shell City. I thought they had died for good!**

 **...**

 **...**

 **God, I wish they had died for good.**

* * *

Ding dong, bing bong.

The monitor on Yukika's wall flickered on again, showing Monokuma once again.

"Good morning, everyone!" Monokuma said cheerily. "It is now 7 am, and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!"

 _We're not seriously getting up at 7 in the morning every day, are we?_

 _Forget that. I'm sleeping in._

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on Yukika's door.

 _Ugh, I can't get any peace and quiet in this place. I'm gonna die of sleep deprivation before someone decides to murder me._

Yukika slowly walked to the door and pulled it open, Geretsuna forced his way inside and coughed before pulling out a note that said "CLASS MEETING 7 AM" in beautiful, vibrant handwriting.

 _It just had to be him._

"Um, excuse me. Yukika?" Geretsuna slowly said. "I hope I did not disturb you… choking your chicken, so to speak. But if you are not aware, there will be a meeting in the dining hall… um, right about now actually. Ah! I'm late! Wait, I was sent here. Never mind, false alarm!"

 _...What?_

"Who's even holding this meeting?" Yukika asked.

"Why, the group of course!" Geretsuna replied. "They seem to feel like it is a good idea to have a nice meal together to discuss various topics such as getting out of here, and escape, and leaving, and removing ourselves from this game. Such a wide array of topics!"

"Uh huh, Okay." Yukika slowly replied. "Alright, let's go then."

 _What kind of freak show am I stuck in…_

* * *

The two walked to the dining hall to be greeted by eleven students: Asa, Verona, Tama, Komei, Jirou, Masakazu, Mitsu, Fumiko, Masako, Sake, and Bunko-sitting around the table. Masako stood up and clapped excitedly.

"Okay! That's everyone I think!" Masako exclaimed cheerfully.

 _Since when were there only thirteen of us?_

"Did Naruto, Yurei, and Kenta all die?!" Mitsu gasped.

"That's right. They're not here, are they?" Asa realized.

"Three deaths?" Masakazu exclaimed. "Monokuma surely possesses the superior firepower to us! We're doomed!"

"No, no, nothing like that," Masako chuckled. "They just decided to not support our cause and be outliers to our big plans!"

"Outliers?" Yukika asked.

"Yes, outliers! You see, we're all here because we have a unifying cause, clearly, those who decided to exclude themselves just don't care?" Masako exclaimed.

 _This bitch is cracked in the head._

"Naruto is sick," Yukika pointed out. "I went to the school store last night, and I saw Naruto coughing loudly and getting himself some medicine."

"This manifesto ass shit is giving me more of a headache than my crippling hangovers!" Sake exclaimed loudly. "And that's fucking bad!"

"Oh, I see," Masako turned to Sake. "If you don't want to be here, you can leave. But I won't seek you out anymore."

"Eh, whatevs," Sake said. "As long as lover boy is here, I'm fine!"

Sake then stared directly at Yukika, who backed up slightly.

 _Lover boy?!_

"Lover boy?!" Yukika exclaimed.

"Alright, first order!" Masako exclaimed, completely ignoring Yukika. "What new evidence have we found to lead to an escape!"

There was complete silence from the dining hall.

"Um, I found a stack of paper in the storage room," Fumiko said softly. "It was blank, though, so nothing came of it."

"Then why even bring it up in the first place?" Komei replied.

"I don't know…" Fumiko said.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Tama exclaimed. "Just because her information was useless doesn't mean it wasn't important!"

 _What kind of logic even is that?_

"Actually yes, it does?" Masakazu said, thoroughly confused.

"Wait… that came out wrong let me try again!" Tama insisted.

Jirou stood up and cleared his throat loudly. "Actually I have some interesting news, myself and Komei share a dorm room."

"What?" Bunko exclaimed. "A man and a woman in the same room!?"

"They probably just put the two gays together, ha!" Sake exclaimed.

"How'd you know that?" Komei looked at Sake awkwardly. "I mean, what?"

"Well, that explains that I guess!" Masako exclaimed. "Case closed everyone!"

"So, I heard you were a yuri…" Geretsuna slid closer to Komei.

"Fuck off," Komei said, punching Geretsuna in the face. Geretsuna fell to the floor.

"Augh, my beautiful face!" Geretsuna exclaimed loudly.

"Violence will get you nowhere in life, Komei!" Mitsu exclaimed.

"Fine," Komei said, crossing her arms.

 _Did she really stop that quickly?_

"Okay, what's next?" Masako said, awkwardly looking around. "Anything?"

"The chicken tendies are quite good right now!" Geretsuna said, inexplicably holding a box of chicken tendies, cooked to perfection.

 _How did he even get a box of chicken?!_

"How did you even get a box of chicken?" Asa asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I live for delectable, chicken teeeeendies," Geretsuna swooned over the chicken tenders that sit in front of him.

"I hope you get diabetes," Komei said flatly.

"Komei!" Mitsu exclaimed.

"Right," Komei said.

 _Why does nobody have anything to even say anymore? Fine, I guess I'll have to push forward._

"I-I saw Kenta last night," Yukika said, quietly.

Everyone gasped loudly and stared at Yukika.

"You did?! Do tell!" Verona asked. "I'm surprised he even ever came out of his room."

"Yeah, he came to me in the middle of the night… with a knife," Yukika continued.

"What?!" Masako exclaimed. "A knife? What happened?!"

"No, it wasn't like that!" Yukika exclaimed. "He was just… nervous, that's all."

"There's a difference between nervous and brandishing a weapon!" Masakazu exclaimed.

"I don't know his reasoning for carrying a knife, but he was," Yukika said. "He said he wanted something from the school store… so we went there."

"But you just said you went alone!" Verona said, irritated. "Don't lie to us, kid. I don't want to have a reason to distrust you."

"I didn't want to, but with Masako's whole… undesirables thing or whatever, I didn't wanna admit I was with him…" Yukika said.

"Oh… well I mean I didn't mean it like that!" Masako stammered. "Whatever, that's not important right now! What's important is what did he tell you?"

"What did he tell me?" Yukika asked.

 _The fuck do they mean "what did he tell me?" Do they not believe me or something?_

"Yeah, I mean anything into the dude's psyche is worth it in my eyes," Asa said.

"We just need to know if he's okay!" Mitsu said.

"Yeah!" Bunko concurred.

"I mean I don't know! He was scared, and that's about it! He didn't trust anyone or something, I dunno for sure what was going on otherwise," Yukika said. "He just wanted a drink and then we parted ways after we got them. That's all."

"He's highly suspicious," Fumiko said, thinking. "I don't know about that guy, but I doubt he's actually dangerous. Just suspicious. I don't think we have to worry much about him. If he wanted to kill, he probably would've killed Yukika last night."

 _Oh._

"That's comforting," Yukika said.

"It should be, it means your life means something to him, which is good news," Fumiko continued. "At least he's not murderous this early, but we should probably try to steer clear of him, just to be sure."

"Yeah, I agree with Fumiko! The guy's bad news, I think," Bunko agreed.

"Alright, all in favor of avoiding Kenta say "aye"," Masako said. Everyone responded with an "aye" except for Yukika.

"You don't want to say aye, Yukika?" Masakazu asked.

"I mean, why would we ostracize someone this early on?" Yukika asked. "It doesn't feel right…"

"He made his choice when you said he was holding a knife in the middle of the night!" Jirou exclaimed.

"It was in self-defense!" Yukika insisted.

"From what?" Komei scoffed.

"He's paranoid. That's always been clear," Yukika said.

"Still, anyone who carries a knife around like that is bad news," Tama admitted.

"Come on, guys. Verona? Mitsu?" Yukika asked for support.

Mitsu avoided eye contact with Yukika.

"Kenta is unpredictable," Verona told Yukika. "You can't deny that."

 _I really can't, but still. Leaving a friend out to dry like that is pretty cold._

"Really, guys?" Yukika said, looking around at everyone. "Seriously?!"

"Yes, Yukika, seriously," Masako said.

"Like I said, dude's bad news," Tama said.

"Why are you defending him so much? He's clearly dangerous," Jirou frowned.

"Man, whatever. This is really wrong," Yukika said.

 _After that, nobody really had much to say, so the meeting disbanded, and we all went our separate ways._

* * *

 _I chose to retire to my room to take a breather from the awkward conversation regarding Kenta. As I sat on my bed, I idly played with some of the Monocoins I had found lying about the school. I should probably spend these at some point. No real reason to keep them around._

 _I took a deep breath, stood up, stretched my arms, cracked my neck back and forth, and left for the school store._

* * *

 _Once I entered the store, I saw Fumiko there._

"Oh, hello Yukika," Fumiko greeted with a sweet smile.

"Hey. Just cashing in my Monocoins, because why not?" Yukika explained.

"Cool. I'm looking for books," Fumiko said.

"I never took you for the scholarly type," Yukika said as he began putting his Monocoins into the MonoMono Machine. His first prize was a Crystal Skull.

"I'm not usually, but I'm looking for a book on a specific subject..." Fumiko admitted with a blush on her face.

"O-Oh," Yukika stammered as he claimed his second prize, Someone's Graduation Album.

"It's nothing like that!" Fumiko cried. "I want to learn about birds."

"Why not ask Tama?" Yukika suggested. "He's not the Ultimate Birdkeeper for nothing."

"That's just it," Fumiko said. "I don't want to look like an idiot in front of him, so I want to find out a thing or two about what he's really passionate about, so we can have something to talk about." Her face grew a deeper red.

 _Huh. Didn't expect anyone to start crushing on their classmates under these circumstances, but I guess, at the end of the day, this is still a high school._

"Well, I wish you the best of luck with that," Yukika said as he opened his third prize, a Jimmy Decay T-Shirt.

"Thanks," Fumiko smiled. "I don't have very much experience with boys, so I don't want to mess things up."

"Just be yourself," Yukika advised. "Speaking as a guy, we don't like mind games or facades or girls who try too hard to be someone they're not." He opened his fourth and last prize, an Antique Doll.

"I'll keep that in mind," Fumiko said bashfully. Her eyes perked up when she noticed the Antique Doll. "Ooh, what a pretty doll."

 _Back off, it's mine._

 _..._

 _Ah, what the hell am I going to use it for?_

"You want it?" Yukika asked.

"You'd really let me have it?" Fumiko asked excitedly.

"Sure," Yukika said as he handed her the doll.

"Oh my gosh, thank you!" Fumiko gushed as she accepted the gift. "Um, you want to hang out? I haven't really been able to connect with anyone here very much, other than Bunko."

 _Should I hang out with Fumiko?_

"Sure, why not?" Yukika agreed as he grabbed an orange soda from one of the school store shelves. "So, you're the Ultimate Carpenter, huh?"

"That's right," Fumiko nodded. "I actually really love carpentry. So I guess it's a good thing I'm talented in it. It's better than being, I don't know, the Ultimate Meanie or something. I wouldn't enjoy that very much."

 _I would say that I'm not sure that's a real talent, but with people like Naruto and Yurei here, I have to wonder..._

"How'd you get into carpentry in the first place?" Yukika asked.

"I had a lot of building toys as a kid, you know?" Fumiko explained. "Legos, Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys. That kind of stuff. Apparently, I'd been making towers using blocks when I was a baby. So I guess I've been interested in building things before I even realized it. Carpentry isn't about building, though. Carpentry is about getting the materials ready for building."

"How did building become carpentry, then?" Yukika asked.

"Well, at one point, when I was playing with some building set or another, I thought to myself, 'What if it had these kinds of pieces? What kinds of things could I build if I only had a certain kind of piece that the set didn't have?'" Fumiko answered. "Then, on my ninth birthday, my grandpa got me a whittling knife for my birthday. My parents didn't think it was a very appropriate gift, but I loved it. I would find all kinds of sticks on the ground and shape them into new pieces for my Tinker Toys. Aw, good times."

"I take it you're able to do more than make Tinker Toys at this point," Yukika guessed.

"Well, yeah," Fumiko giggled. "Obviously, I work with wood, but I've also worked with metal, too, believe it or not. And let me tell you, working with those things is like night and day. Oh, but you don't want me to ramble, do you?"

 _I mean, not particularly, but I'm not just going to say that to your face._

"So, you don't cut down trees or anything, right? You just handle the wood?" Yukika asked.

"I've cut down trees before," Fumiko clarified. "I'm not usually supposed to, though, unless they're on my family's property. So I usually just buy it at the hardware store. But I know how to cut down trees if the opportunity presents itself. I'm a lot stronger than I look."

 _I was wondering how someone so... petite managed to become the Ultimate Carpenter. I wonder how strong she really is._

"Well, it's been great talking to you," Fumiko smiled. "Even if it was just centered around me. Maybe we can discuss e-sports or something next time, yeah?"

 _Fumiko left the school store, with her Antique Doll still in hand. I think she forgot about her quest for a bird book. Either way, I think I've grown to understand Fumiko a bit better now._

 _So... now what should I do?_

 _Maybe I'll find someone else to hang out with. I should probably avoid looking like Kenta's Stockholm Syndrome victim by befriending more people. Fumiko's a start, but who else...?_

"Ah, if it isn't Kenta's gay lover," Geretsuna snorted as he entered the school store.

"Wait, what?!" Yukika gasped.

"I see all," Geretsuna said as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "You and he spent time together last night, and you've been very quick to defend him despite him clearly being dangerous. Not that there's anything _wrong_ with that, but enabling someone like him isn't going to make you many friends around here."

"I still don't think you guys are being fair to him, but I guess saying that isn't really helping prove you wrong," Yukika commented.

"Are you saying I'm wrong?" Geretsuna glared.

"Well, you're not right," Yukika mumbled.

"Speak up," Geretsuna snorted.

"No, Kenta and I are not lovers," Yukika clarified. "I just think he's not in the same place mentally as the rest of us, and I think that trying to calm him down is a better way to go than shunning him outright."

"So you admit he's mentally disturbed?" Geretsuna asked.

"I..." Yukika trailed off.

 _I probably should have worded that better. I mean, yeah, I don't think Kenta's all there mentally, but I doubt he's a psychopath or anything._

"He's not crazy," Yukika said. "And he's not dangerous."

"I'm not the Ultimate Conspiracy Theorist for nothing," Gerestuna said. "Of everyone here, I see in him the most potential to commit murder."

 _Maybe I should get on his good side so he doesn't go spreading things. About Kenta or about our supposed relationship._

 _Should I hang out with Geretsuna?_

"I tell you what," Yukika said as he took his Crystal Skull. "If I give this to you, will you give this all a rest?"

"I can certainly try," Geretsuna said as he grabbed the item. "How on Earth did you come across this?"

 _I thought you "saw all"._

"From the Monomono machine in the Store," Yukika answered, matter of factly

"At the risk of sounding like a one-note caricature, do they have tendies? Geretsuna asked, practically bouncing on his heels, or as much bouncing someone can do at his size.

"I'm not sure if they do, being they would probably go bad in there," Yukika mused

"Useless! Well, no matter, I always keep a steady supply of delicious tendies on my person at all times, just in case hunger strikes!" Geretsuna shouted with bravado as he fished out an already cooked chicken tender from his pocket and took a bite.

 _I really don't wanna know where else on himself that he keeps those things…_

"I once uncovered a VILE PLOT that the CHINESE GOVERNMENT was trying to starve its citizens! So I started stocking up early!" Geretsuna exclaimed as he shoved a chicken tendie in his mouth.

"But Geretsuna we don't live in Chi-" Yukika began, but was cut off by Geretsuna.

"NO MATTER!" Geretsuna said spitting chicken everywhere. "I must be prepared! Famine is NO laughing matter!"

 _Oh, you're more than prepared I'd say, Geretsuna…_

"Ah! Another example of my glorious exploits!" Geretsuna exclaimed loudly. "Once I told the Prime Minister of Canada that there would be a massive moose hoard coming towards the… white house thing that they have! I saved that entire country from having no prime minister!"

"Yeah, right, okay," Yukika said, rolling his eyes. "I definitely believe that."

"It's true!" Geretsuna cried loudly. "You can ask the Prime Minister himself!"

"Okay if I was able to get a hold of the Prime Minster of Canada I'd tell him to get us OUT OF HERE!" Yukika exclaimed.

"Valid point, valid point…" Geretsuna said, rubbing his chins. "Unless... the one behind it all _is_ the Canadian prime minister!"

"Why would he do this to the one who saved his life?" Yukika asked in disbelief.

"I'm not sure. This will warrant more speculation..." Geretsuna thought aloud. "You have inspired me, Yukika Kori. No homo."

 _Taking another bite of his chicken, Geretsuna left the room. I'm not sure I'll ever come to understand Geretsuna fully, but I think I've grown to understand Geretsuna a bit better now._

 _Anyway, that's enough socializing for one day, I'd say._

* * *

Yukika headed back to his room for some alone time. He lied faceup on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

 _What a full day it's been... Is this truly how I'm going to live the rest of my life? Trapped in isolation with fifteen other students? I guess I'm starting to make some friends here, but the thought of death keeps lingering in the back of my mind. What if someone does snap and try to kill someone? What if they succeed? What if they're able to get away with it?_

 _I really need to stop overthinking things._

Ding dong, bing bong.

 _Oh, come on. Now, of all times?_

The TV flickered on, revealing Monokuma's image.

"Attention, students!" Monokuma announced. "Things are starting to get real boring around here, you know? Which is why I've decided to shake things up! Meet me in the gym in ten minutes. Attendance is mandatory. Anyone who doesn't show up... won't be showing up anywhere ever again. So do hurry up, Okie Dokie? Monokuma, out!"

The screen flickered off. Yukika grabbed his pillow and shoved it into his face.

 _It's like he waited for me to start feeling remotely comfortable before dropping this on us._

 _..._

 _Ugh, I should probably get going._

Yukika sluggishly got up from his bed and made his way to the gym. A couple more people exited their dorm rooms at the same time and made their way as well. This included Kenta, who wrung his hands nervously and avoided eye contact with everyone, including Yukika.

 _I guess if anything, Kenta can prove that he isn't dangerous while he's actually around people._

* * *

The students all shuffled into the gymnasium one by one until all sixteen stood on the varnished wood floor, waiting for Monokuma.

"There'd better be a damn good reason Monokuma woke me up from my nap," Yurei snarled.

"There probably is if he threatened to kill anyone who didn't show up," Bunko said matter-of-factly.

"Maybe you shouldn't have shown up then," Yurei sneered. "Done us all a favor."

"Hey," Fumiko said firmly.

"What?" Bunko asked obliviously.

"Nice to see you've joined us," Tama told Kenta.

Kenta looked at the floor as he hugged his own body.

"Howwwwwdy ho!" an obnoxious voice came from behind the lectern.

The students all turned their attention towards the lectern. Monokuma lept up on top of it, seemingly having been behind it.

"Hey, kiddos!" Monokuma said chipperly. "I hope you're as happy to see me as I am to see you!"

"I'm never happy to see anyone," Naruto droned.

"Then we're on the same page!" Monokuma giggled. "Anyway, it seems like you sixteen are all living pretty comfortably. Getting along with each other?"

"I know you know we're not," Asa mumbled flatly.

"Well!" Monokuma said dramatically. "That's all about to change!"

"What are you doing?" Verona asked, annoyed.

"Well, I want people to die, right?" Monokuma asked. "That's kind of the whole reason you're all here? Remember?"

"Oh, right, I'd forgotten," Jirou said sarcastically.

"Geez, you guys just aren't as fun to mess with as the other kids..." Monokuma lamented. "Anyway, it's been too long without any murdering going on!"

"It's been like two days," Komei said, annoyed.

"So I'm going to establish a motive for you guys!" Monokuma continued. "Now, I want you all to think about the one thing you don't want your peers to find out about."

"My life is an open book," Geretsuna sniffed.

"Upupupupupupu..." Monokuma sniggered. "It doesn't matter how honest you are with yourself, there's one thing that everybody has deep down that they won't share with anyone."

"Their fetishes?" Sake chuckled.

"Yup!" Monokuma confirmed.

Sake's face fell into shock.

"There's no way you know our fetishes," Masako leered.

"Don't I?" Monokuma asked. "It doesn't matter if you use incognito tabs, people _can_ find out what you're looking up if they know what to do."

"The hell is an incognito tab?" Verona asked.

"Don't worry Verona, I know yours too," Monokuma said. "The magazines you brought from Mexico didn't escape my radar, let's just put it that way."

"He's-He's bluffing," Masakazu stammered.

"I most certainly am not," Monokuma chuckled. "Check your e-Handbooks."

The students all checked their e-Handbooks, Yukika included. He and the others broke out into a cold sweat.

 _Oh shit. He does know._

Yukika read the words on his screen. "That gross 3D animated porn of video game characters fucking."

 _It's not gross._

"So here's the deal!" Monokuma said, prompting the teens to look up from their e-Handbooks. "I'm going to give you guys a full day to plan a murder. Starting tomorrow night, I'm going to reveal someone's fetish at random for everyone to hear. I will stop as soon as one of you bastards commits a murder!"

"And what if you reveal them all and no one's killed anyone?" Yukika asked.

"Do you truly want to risk people finding out what you look at to get your jollies?" Monokuma teased.

"No, but it's not worth taking someone's life!" Mitsu cried.

"I dunno. Some of you guys are into some pretty fucked up shit," Monokuma smirked. "Like, geez Louise. I didn't even know some of these were fetishes until I had to dig up the dirt on you."

"Eh, mine's not THAT bad" Jirou mused

"Then tell us," Komei challenged.

"...Fuck off," Jirou blushed.

"Alright then, I'll just come out and say it then;" Tama took a deep breath before he was interrupted.

"No one wants to know," Verona winced.

"No, I think it's best that we go ahead and leave it all out in the open," Masako said. "That way Monokuma's incentive for murder is destroyed, right?"

"Or I could just give you guys another motive," Monokuma shrugged.

"Besides, like fuck I'm letting anyone know that shit," Yurei spat.

"It's an admirable idea, but I think we should just wait it all out," Fumiko told Masako. She turned to Tama. "Sorry, Tama," she told him with a deep blush.

"Nah, I get it," Tama said with a big, oblivious smile.

"Not that anyone gives a shit, but Kenta disappeared," Naruto pointed out.

The students scanned the gymnasium to find that Kenta was indeed absent.

"I'd be careful if I were you," Geretsuna said as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Now that he has a reason to kill, we should be more cautious than ever that he, or anyone, truly, might try something."

"Nothing's going to happen," Yukika assured the others.

"What he said!" Sake agreed loudly.

"Blind optimism will get us nowhere," Masakazu scoffed. "We may all think that we're above such things as murder, but Kenta is another beast entirely."

"Yeah, he's probably into some weird ass shit," Sake giggled.

 _Whose side are you on?_

"If we're going to be suspicious of Kenta, we should all be suspicious of everyone else, too," Yukika insisted.

"Give it a rest," Verona told Yukika.

Yukika was ready to object, but the look in Verona's eyes prompted him to stop.

"Hey, for what it's worth, Monokuma definitely got mine wrong," Bunko said proudly. "I don't even have a fetish. Especially not a daddy kink."

"Go to your room, young lady," Yurei glared.

Bunko's face flushed.

"Well, I learned more about Bunko than I ever wanted to," Komei remarked. "I'm going to my room."

"You mean our room?" Jirou corrected. "I'm coming with."

As the two roommates left, the other students began leaving the gymnasium one after the other, until only Yukika and Verona were left.

"Look..." Verona said once she was sure no one else was there. "I know you and Kenta are friends. I get that. But you have to admit that him actively avoiding everyone isn't making him easy to trust."

"I do," Yukika said. "But he isn't avoiding everyone. He's talking to me. He's not dangerous; he's just scared."

"We're all scared," Verona said. "But no one else here is hiding in their rooms all day or wandering the halls at night with a knife."

"So, what, I should just treat him like a pariah like everyone else?" Yukika asked.

"I'm not saying that," Verona said. "Just... I don't know, don't be so quick to defend him. It's not helping your standings with anyone else here, you know? I overheard Masakazu and Komei calling you untrustworthy earlier today. Masakazu even said he thinks we should start shutting you out. Thank goodness Komei told him how stupid of an idea that was, or I'd have to do it for her."

 _Untrustworthy, I can kind of understand, but shutting me out? Ouch._

"I have been making some effort to talk to the others about non-Kenta things," Yukika said. "I should probably make more of an effort, huh?"

"Maybe," Verona said. "All I know is that, if we want to survive this sick killing game, we're going to need to be able to trust each other. Kenta's not making it easy for us to trust him, and I don't want you doing the same for yourself."

"I know. I just don't want to abandon Kenta entirely, you know?" Yukika said.

"Hey, you'll think of something," Verona said as she gave Yukika a friendly punch on the arm. "And hey, let's be real, this motive for murder is really stupid. No one's going to kill someone just so their fetish doesn't get revealed, no matter how embarrassing it is."

"You wouldn't mind if people found out what you liked?" Yukika asked.

"Oh dear God I'm not saying that!" Verona said. "But I'd rather people find... _that_ out than for anyone to die."

"Hopefully everyone agrees with you on that," Yukika thought aloud.

"I'm sure they do. Even Kenta," Verona said. "Even if someone's into some morally objectionable shit, nothing's worth killing someone to hide."

 _Verona has a lot of faith in everyone. Including Kenta, I notice. And people seem to like her, or at the very least aren't talking about shutting her out. Then again, she isn't Kenta's best friend like I seem to be. Man, I wish Kenta would just talk to people so I wouldn't have to overthink our friendship._

"I just wish we weren't in this situation at all," Yukika mused.

"Again, so do the rest of us," Verona chuckled.

"True," Yukika chuckled back. "Thanks for the talk. I needed that."

"Yeah, no problem," Verona said with a casual smirk. "See, you can make friends besides Kenta."

 _I wasn't avoiding being friends with people besides Kenta... Or at least I wasn't trying to. Geez, is that really my reputation around here?_

"I'm going to fix myself some dinner," Verona said as she went for the door to the gymnasium. "I hope they have ingredients for tacos. I could use some."

Verona left the gymnasium.

 _Honestly, I probably should hang out with someone, but I was this close to napping before Monokuma interrupted me, so I might as well go do that._

* * *

Yukika returned to his room and took a long and satisfying nap.

 _What time is it?_

Yukika later woke up from his nap just in time to hear a knock on the door.

 _God actual damn it, can't I just have some time to myself to think?_

Yukika reluctantly got up and opened the door to find Kenta there.

"Hey, Kenta," Yukika said half-heartedly.

"Hey," Kenta whispered. "I think I found something that might be worth checking out, but I can't check it out alone. Can you come with?"

"What kind of something?" Yukika asked.

"Come with me and find out," Kenta grinned.

 _Why can I not just have a good night's sleep? I'm gonna snap…_

Yukika reluctantly followed Kenta out of his room and the two headed out of the dorm area.

"What time even is it?" Yukika asked.

"Night time," Kenta said. "Did you not hear Monokuma's announcement?"

"Probably not. I was napping for the last couple hours," Yukika admitted.

"I actually did a bit of exploring after Monokuma was done explaining the... motive," Kenta admitted. "That's when I found this thing."

"What's this thing again?" Yukika asked.

"It's over here!" Kenta exclaimed, running down the hallway to the first classroom. "See!"

 _Ugh… if this is a body… please no…_

Yukika then peeked into the room and looked around. "This looks like a normal-oh my goodness!"

Carved into the wall was a gigantic "SC", Yukika gasped and then looked at Kenta. "What does it mean?"

"I don't know!" Kenta exclaimed. "Isn't it exciting?"

 _I wouldn't say exciting…_

"Well… I'm confused," Yukika said, looking around. "When did you find this again?"

"Like I said before," Kenta began. "I skipped out right after Monokuma was done explaining the motive, as I was exploring I saw this! I was gonna keep it to myself but… you're the only one who I thought would care about what I have to say so I came and got you."

 _That's... actually kind of sad._

"So someone carved some curvy lines," Yukika remarked.

"They're letters in the Latin alphabet," Kenta corrected. "SC."

"Does that mean something in another language?" Yukika asked.

"I don't know," Kenta said. "I don't know a lot about the Latin alphabet."

"Maybe someone else knows," Yukika suggested. "Who would do something like this, anyway?"

"That's what I'm wondering," Kenta said as he took a notebook and pencil out of his hoodie pocket and began writing.

"Didn't bring your knife this time?" Yukika remarked.

"Yeah, I did," Kenta said as he revealed his knife from his pocket. He put it back.

"What are you writing?" Yukika asked.

"I'm making a list of everyone in our class," Kenta explained. "I'm keeping track of why each of us might do something like this."

"Really? Even, I don't know, Fumiko or Asa?" Yukika asked.

"I haven't gotten to them yet," Kenta said. "I'm starting with the easy ones. Yurei, Naruto, Sake. The troublemakers."

"Planning on asking people about it?" Yukika asked.

"I might," Kenta pondered. "Only if you accompany me, though. If someone tries something, I at least want a witness."

 _You know what, if he wants to start talking to people, I'd be willing to follow him._

"Do you think this is, like, important, or just some kind of prank?" Yukika asked.

"I don't know," Kenta said. "I found this very shortly after the motive was established, so unless someone was planning on killing before then, I don't think this is any kind of warning sign. It's probably just a prank. But why go to all the trouble?"

"I guess we'll have to find out," Yukika said.

"Tomorrow," Kenta agreed. He held his notebook out in front of him.

"What? You want me to take it?" Yukika asked.

"Let's face it: people are more likely to go after me than you," Kenta said.

"You know, you're right…" Yukika said, taking the notebook cautiously.

"And if something happens to me, this needs to get out…" Kenta continued. "Seriously, this could be the clue to getting out of this place!"

"...Yeah…" Yukika stammered.

"So please, guard it until we can get back together and figure this out. It's too late now to really get into this without looking suspicious…" Kenta said

 _Without looking suspicious..? What planet is he on? We already look suspicious!_

"Alright, dude, thanks for the info…" Yukika replied. "Alright, I need to get back to bed, I'll see you tomorrow. Where do you wanna meet up?"

"I'd say tomorrow morning in your room. It's private, eh?" Kenta said, smiling slightly.

Yukika recoiled slightly. "Yeah… I guess it is. I'll see you then I guess."

"I will stop at nothing to reveal this, so thanks so much for helping me. You're really the only one I can say I trust here. A friend, I guess."

"Thanks, man…" Yukika said, walking backing away. "Later!"

Kenta simply waved and smiled as Yukika turned to walk out of the room. As Yukika walked out of the room he immediately bumped into Sake, who had a very strong smell of vodka on her.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" Sake exclaimed, hugging Yukika. "Hey, there my big strong man!"

 _Jesus Christ, why now? Why here?_

"Oh… hi, Sake…" Yukika said as Sake hugged him extremely tightly. "W-Why are you up so late?"

"Oh I don't know I'm just getting TURNT!" Sake exclaimed. "Yeah I'd say I'm basically easy to pick up right about now, huh lover boy?"

 _...Lover boy?!_

"Uh… you're like, super drunk right now, isn't that rape or something?" Yukika said.

Sake simply laughed as she hugged Yukika tighter.

"Yeah… uh, I'd love to but like, I'd really like not to…" Yukika said, trying to get free of Sake's death grip.

"Are you suuuuuuuuuuuuure?" Sake winked.

"Yes," Yukika said flatly, still struggling.

"Ugh fiiiine!" Sake said, releasing Yukika, who quickly stumbled out of arms reach.

"I ran into Kenta…" Yukika said.

"What?!" Sake exclaimed. "He's so dark and mysterious… it's kinda hot honestly…"

 _Is this chick serious right now?_

"Oh Kenta!" Sake exclaimed, opening up the classroom door that Yukika came out of. Kenta quickly realized Sake was staring at him and pushed her over to run away deeper into the school.

"Oh, he's playing hard to get huh…" Sake said. "I love it!"

Sake then got up and chased after Kenta as quickly as she could. Yukika sighed in relief.

 _Thank god, honestly._

* * *

 _I quickly got back to my room before anyone else could jump me and quickly shut the door. What is wrong with the people here? Kenta and Sake are crazy and they're the ones who LIKE me..._

 _Kenta's notes are kind of interesting, but they're so oddly written. It's written all diagonally. I really don't get this stuff. I'll ask him about it tomorrow. He seemed really agitated, hopefully he doesn't go too overboard tomorrow. "Stop at nothing"... it scared me. Kenta scares me, and yet? He actually trusts me and considers me a friend. I feel kinda bad that I'm scared of him when he wouldn't do anything to me… but I just am. I need to stop dwelling on this. Tomorrow will hold the answers._

Yukika lied down on his bed, closed his eyes, and drifted to sleep.

* * *

 **Monokuma Theater!**

 **Why is it that, the older you get, the less Christmas means to you? When you're a kid, Christmas is the best thing about being alive. But, as you age, it just loses its magic, until it becomes just another day. I blame Santa Claus, the fat jackass.**


	4. Chapter 1: Daily Life: Part 2

Ding dong, bing bong.

"Good morning, everyone!" Monokuma said cheerily. "It is now 7 am, and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!"

 _This terrible schedule. It's honestly so degrading. It's like a prison. So just like high school… lovely._

Yukika forced himself out of bed, took a shower, got dressed, and exited his room. He darted quickly over to the dining hall and was greeted by twelve faces: the same faces who were present the last time. Masako waved to Yukika, gesturing for him to come over quickly.

 _Is something wrong?_

"Yukika! Did you see the note on Kenta's door?" Masako said.

"Um, no?" Yukika replied. "Was it bad?"

"Not particularly, it just said he is unable to come to anything because he's sick," Masakazu answered.

"We did run into Naruto the other night, and Naruto is also sick..." Yukika thought aloud. "I hope they get better."

"And if not, they both avoid us all the time anyway, so really, what changes?" Komei said.

"Hey!" Mitsu objected. "They're both people too! They want friendship just like anyone else would."

"...I guess," Komei mumbled.

"Anything else of note?" Yukika asked no one in particular.

"Yes, actually," Masako said proudly. "I've noticed that a lot of us are kind of on-edge."

"No f-fuckin' SHIT!" Sake responded. "We're all gonna fuckin' die."

"No, we are not," Masako said firmly. "We will make it out of here alive."

"And you have a plan?" Asa asked.

"Not for escape, but to keep morale up," Masako said. "I don't want us spending all our time here in a bad mood. So I figured I'd put together a little event."

"What kind of event?" Tama asked.

"A talent show!" Masako announced. "Think about it: we're all here because we all excel in our talents, right? Why not show everyone what kinds of things we can do? It'll be fun!"

"I could be into that," Verona said.

"Yeah!" Mitsu agreed.

"I'm not sure my talent is really talent show material..." Fumiko muttered.

"Same, girl," Jirou added.

"I realize that," Masako admitted. "But you're still welcome to come and attend! I urge you to, in fact."

"Can I-?" Sake began before being cut off by Masako.

"Is it legal?" Masako asked.

Sake simply snapped her fingers in frustration."The fuck does it matter?"

"I certainly cannot perform if we're bound by the restrictions of the law," Masakazu chimed in.

"It's something to break up the monotony, if nothing else," Geretsuna added as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I'll go."

"Should we tell Kenta, Yurei, and Naruto?" Mitsu suggested.

"Uh... I guess if you want to," Masako responded. "I doubt Kenta will make it though… guy's a bit of a mess, eh?"

"Yeah, I doubt Naruto or Yurei would want to come either," Fumiko said.

"What good would their talents be to a show?" Geretsuna snorted.

"Look who's talking," Komei remarked.

"Hey, Yurei's a skateboarder. That could be fun to watch," Fumiko suggested.

"So I take it you all like the talent show idea?" Masako asked.

"I approve!" Tama declared.

The other students all chimed in with some sort of acknowledgment of their own approval.

"Awesome," Masako smiled. "If you want to be a part of the show, talk to me so I can get a schedule together."

 _I don't think I'll be able to perform in the talent show, but it could be worth going. It's true that I have been pretty on edge recently. Maybe I could use something like this._

Yukika retreated to the kitchen to prepare himself some breakfast. As he left, he already saw the likes of Bunko, Verona, Mitsu, and Asa approach Masako, asking if they could participate in the show.

 _They all seem so excited. Maybe we did need this. Masako might be a bit paranoid... but she really is looking out for us._

 _I walked back out into the dining room and sat down with my breakfast. I'm not sure about this talent show still, but if it works to keep us sane, I'll take it…_

"Alrightalrightalright!" Sake stammered. "I'll just show you how to make a screwdriver sound good? K? Cool!"

"Fine!" Masako said, tensely. "Go ahead and do it. I want everyone to feel included, so I'd say it's a good idea."

"Maybe you should perform, Masako!" Jirou exclaimed. "It'd be so fab I'm sure! Clown shit can be fun!"

"I could definitely do that!" Masako quickly responded. "I'd be honored to perform in front of you guys."

 _I briefly smiled looking at them. They were so happy. I spaced out and just ate the rest of my breakfast._

* * *

 _After breakfast, I retreated to my room for a bit. Introverted as I am, it gets kind of claustrophobic being trapped in this building with the same fifteen people every day. I could use a break. I might go see if someone wants to hang out later._

* * *

After taking a brief nap, Yukika stood up from his bed and left his room.

 _Alright... what should I do?_

"Heyoooooooo it's my mans Yukika!" Sake cheered as she hastily stumbled over to Yukika.

"Hi, Sake," Yukika responded half-heartedly.

"Whatcha dooooooooooin'?" Sake asked in a sing-songy voice.

"Nothing," Yukika responded.

 _I should not have said that._

"Ooooooooh we should, like, hang out or something," Sake giggled.

 _I definitely should not have said that._

 _..._

 _I said I wanted to hang out with someone. Beggars can't be choosers, and besides, some of the others might still be suspicious of me._

 _Should I spend some time with Sake?_

"We could l-l-listen to music or something... in-in my room," Sake suggested. "I brought a couple CDs with me from- URP from home. Jimmy Decay, or..."

"Jimmy Decay, huh?" Yukika interrupted. He pulled a folded-up black shirt from his blazer pocket. "I actually got this from the MonoMono Machine yesterday. You want it?"

Sake's eyes lit up and her face turned red.

"A man after my own fuckin' heart," Sake swooned as she violently grabbed the shirt from Yukika's hand. She then took his hand and dragged him to her bedroom. She opened the door with her Student ID and they entered.

* * *

Sake's room, unsurprisingly, quite messy. Clothes were strewn all over the floor and furniture, bottles of various types of alcohol were kept in one corner of the room, and Yukika could smell the faint odor of vomit from the other side of the open bathroom door.

 _We've only been here a couple days. How did she mess up her room so quickly?_

Sake threw off her usual top and replaced it with the Jimmy Decay shirt. She made no effort to cover herself or to tell Yukika to look away while she changed.

"So..." Yukika started awkwardly. "Mixology, huh?"

"Hell yeah," Sake slurred. "They don't call me Sake for nothing."

"Cool coincidence, I suppose," Yukika mused.

"Coincidence? What what what coincidence?" Sake asked.

"That your parents named you Sake and you ended up an expert on mixology," Yukika clarified.

"Pfft! Lol!" Sake laughed.

 _Did she just say "lol" out loud as if it was a word?_

"Nah, bro, Sake is just a nickname," Sake explained. "Well, kind of. My real name is Saki, but, like, close enough, right?"

"I mean, still…" Yukika stammered.

"Haha… you're nervous aren't you?" Sake said, inching closer to Yukika.

"Uh… please… Sake…" Yukika continued, scooting away. "W-What about how to make drinks? I wanna learn."

"Ooh!" Sake exclaimed, jumping back from where she stood. "I'll show you!"

Sake grabbed a partially-full bottle of vodka from her bed and a full carton of orange juice from her desk.

"This is some b-basic ass shit," Sake explained. "Made my first one in fuckin' fuckin' fuckin' fuckin' ELEMENTARY school nigga."

"Orange juice and... what is that, vodka?" Yukika asked.

"Yeah!" Sake exclaimed as she opened the carton of juice, chugged half of the carton, and then emptied the contents of the bottle of vodka into the half-empty carton. "Try it!" she urged as she closed the carton and shook it violently.

"T-Try what?" Yukika asked.

"Try the screwdriver," Sake insisted.

Yukika eyed the carton suspiciously as he took it from Sake's hands. She looked at him expectantly.

"So, what makes the combination of orange juice and vodka so good?" Yukika asked.

"Because everything is good with vodka," Sake said matter-of-factly.

 _I mean I guess she's not WRONG..._

"I mean, I guess you're not wrong…" Yukika said.

"Orange juice and vodka, ginger beer and vodka, sex and vodka..." Sake listed.

"Wait, what?" Yukika asked.

"Ginger beer and vodka..." Sake continued.

"Y-Okay…" Yukika said. "Uh… do you have anything?"

"Oh yeah, of course!" Sake exclaimed. "I have like, so much alcohol it's not even funny! Like, we're in a school but you'd be shocked how much liquor is stored if you just check a couple times!"

"Really?" Yukika said. "Why would we even have a liquor cabinet in a high school?"

"No reason whatsoever!" Sake smiled.

 _I haven't questioned the talking stuffed bear, so I'm not going to question this. She's staring at my crotch, so I think I'll cut it off here. Either way, I think I've grown to understand Sake a little better._

* * *

Yukika retreated to his bedroom for a cold shower. After he dried off and reclothed, he stretched and began to collect his thoughts.

 _Sake is…. An interesting person, that's for sure. I am sure this isn't the last I'll learn of her…. But I still have some time on my hands. What should I do?_

Yukika got up out of the chair he was sitting in and headed out of his room. He looked around and saw nobody.

"Where could people be at this hour?" Yukika asked aloud. "Naruto's sick, Kenta's... Kenta."

 _Oh! The talent show! People are probably practicing their acts. Maybe I can catch someone at the gym._

* * *

Yukika made his way towards the gym. As he entered, he found Mitsu doing some cheerleading routines.

"Who'll survive? WE'LL SURVIVE! We! Can! DO IT!" Mitsu cheered as she performed a chain of handsprings which finished with her landing in a splits position.

"Whoa! That was pretty impressive," Yukika commented.

"Oh! Yukika! How long have you been here?" Mitsu asked.

"Just showed up," Yukika answered.

"Oh. Is there something you wanted?" Mitsu asked as she cocked her head to the side.

"Just hanging around," Yukika answered. "Practicing for the talent show?"

"Yep!" Mitsu confirmed. "I take it you're not?"

"Not much an e-sports guy can do," Yukika shrugged.

"Aw, don't say that!" Mitsu said encouragingly. "You can do anything you set your mind to!"

 _Okay, but how can I demonstrate my talent without a computer?_

 _Should I spend some time with Mitsu?_

"I don't know, talent shows aren't really my thing," Yukika shrugged. "Want to hang out? I'm kind of bored."

"I'm always glad to hang out with others!" Mitsu said excitedly. "I find other people fascinating!"

"Actually, that reminds me," Yukika said as he pulled his copy of Someone's Graduation Album from his blazer pocket. "I got this from the MonoMono Machine yesterday. Don't suppose you want it?"

"Ooh, this looks so cool~!" Mitsu beamed as she gladly accepted the gift. "Thanks a bunch, Yukika!"

"No problem," Yukika responded nonchalantly.

"So tell me about your talent," Mitsu inquired curiously.

"What specifically about it?" Yukika asked.

"Well... when did you discover you had this talent?" Mitsu asked.

"When?" Yukika asked. "I first played The Legendary Tournament when I was 11. I picked it up pretty easily, and things just went on a roll from there. What about you?"

"Actually, I discovered my talent only a year or two ago," Mitsu admitted. "Cheerleading never even occurred to me until I joined the squad in middle school on a whim. I didn't even know I was so good at it until my tryouts went so well. They told me I was the best they'd ever seen. Which is really weird since I never really had any experience beforehand. I guess some talents, you're just born with. I believe everyone has something good innate within them, some kind of talent. That's why I love Hope's Peak so much. It brings out the inherent goodness within people. Oh, but I'm rambling, aren't I?"

"Don't worry about it," Yukika assured her. "You seem to like talking about yourself."

"...Oh," Mitsu frowned.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Yukika backspaced. "I'm not great at holding a conversation, honestly, so I appreciate the enthusiasm, honestly."

"Oh thank goodness," Mitsu said with a sigh of relief. "I was afraid you were upset with me."

"Nah, don't worry about it," Yukika assured her.

"And hey, I'm sure you're great at holding a conversation. You can do anything you set your mind to!" Mitsu encouraged him.

 _If only that were true, maybe I'd have a girlfriend and not be world-renowned for playing video games. Eh, if it gets me into Hope's Peak, I shouldn't complain._

"What kinds of things do you set your mind to?" Yukika asked.

"Making sure people set their minds to doing what they wish!" Mitsu answered enthusiastically.

 _I'm not sure what else I expected._

 _Mitsu seems like a nice girl if a bit overly concerned about others. Her musings on innate talent are interesting, though. Might be a point for future discussion with her. I think I've grown to understand Mitsu a little better._

"Good talk, Mitsu," Yukika said. "I'm going to leave you back to your practice."

"Don't be a stranger!" Mitsu called as Yukika left the gym.

 _I feel like people are a bit too hard on Mitsu. She's really a nice girl, I think._

* * *

Yukika entered the hallway and was almost immediately greeted by a face mere inches away from his own. It was Verona, smiling tentatively as he immediately backed up.

 _Oh! It's Verona! ...That was close. At least it's not Kenta... He's my friend and all, but being around him isn't a good look right now._

"Hey there… Verona!" Yukika said, nervously.

"Oh hey there Yukika, what's up? Verona asked. "I assume you're not just walking around alone for no reason, right?"

 _Well…._

"Oh of course not!" Yukika said. "I'm just… getting a drink!"

"In the gym?" Verona said, skeptically.

"...Yes," Yukika asserted. "Well, what are you doing here?"

Verona looked around, then leaned in. "I'm looking for clues on how to escape this place. Maybe, just maybe, we can get out of here."

 _Oh great… now she's doing it too._

"What do you think you'll find?" Yukika asked. "We've been over every inch of this place, there's not much else to look at."

"I know, I know," Verona said. "But we have to keep trying. We can't just wait for someone to kill someone!"

"Well, you're right I guess…" Yukika said. "I'm not sure what else we could do though."

"We?" Verona said. "Who said you were a part of this?"

"I mean I just figured…" Yukika stammered.

"Oh don't worry I'm just fucking with you!" Verona laughed, slapping me on the shoulder.

 _And here I thought I just looked like an idiot…._

"Are you just gonna stand there and look like an idiot or are we gonna go do something?" Verona said, beginning to walk away.

"Oh! Coming!" Yukika said, trailing Verona closely.

* * *

 _And so we searched. We mostly stuck to the living quarters: The cafeteria, the storage area, the trash room. All of which we knew would be populated later so it'd be hard to search for anything. We can cover the rest tonight. Oddly enough, the presence of Verona was calming to me. In a world of uncertainty, she seemed to be a rock of confidence. I could live with this, honestly._

"Excited for the talent show?" Yukika asked.

"Haven't thought too much about it," Verona admitted. "I will be performing in it, but I'm confident enough in my abilities that I'm not practicing."

"So, any thoughts on how we might get out of here?" Yukika inquired.

"Nothing so far, but I'm not giving up," Verona said determinedly. "We've barely covered the first floor. And there are other floors we haven't even been to. We can do this. Somehow."

As the two made their way through the halls of the dorm section, they ran into Naruto and Yurei. The two were laughing heartily as Yukika and Verona made their way towards them.

"Hey, Naruto! Yurei!" Verona called.

 _Is it really a good idea to be talking to these two? They're dangerous, as far as I'm concerned._

"What the fuck do you want?" Naruto spat. "Don't you have somewhere else to be a fucking normie?"

"A normie...?" Yukika said. "Wait, that's not important. Where the hell have you guys even been?"

"In my room, because I'm sick, cunt," Naruto spat.

"In my room because fuck you," Yurei answered.

 _What a couple of upstanding guys._

"Okay, but we've all been planning shit," Verona said. "Do you even care?"

"Um, no?" Naruto said. "I kinda just want to die, really. I'm mostly pissed this cold is not lethal."

"I don't give a fuck what you and your faggoty friends are doing," Yurei retorted. "Whatever it is, it doesn't involve me.

"Not even a talent show?" Yukika asked.

 _Wait that was really stupid to say._

Naruto and Yurei immediately began laughing hysterically. Verona and Yukika rolled their eyes at the two.

"A talent show?" Naruto laughed. "Are you kidding me? What a stupid fucking thing to do!"

"You had me thinking you actually had a way out of this shithole," Yurei said. "Way to get me fucking excited. Fuck you."

"Well fuck you too then," Verona said back to them.

 _Woah, didn't think she'd say it right back to their faces. She always struck me more as a talk shit behind their back kinda girl._

"The fuck did you say to me?" Yurei said, cracking his knuckles. "I'm not afraid to make you a fucking example, alright?"

"Woah woah woah just calm down!" Yukika exclaimed, getting in between the two. "Can't we just work this out?"

 _This IS Yurei I'm talking about though…._

"Hey, guys!" Bunko said as she showed up out of nowhere.

"Beat it, sperg!" Naruto scowled.

"Hey!" Bunko objected. "I am _not_ the bully from Billy and Mandy!"

 _What?_

"Where is this talent show, anyway?" Yurei asked. "I only ask so I know where to avoid."

"It's uh..." Yukika started. "Shit, we never established that, did we?"

"We can ask Masako later," Verona decided.

 _What a well thought out idea, this talent show. And this is tonight?_

"Well, while you guys have your little autism convention, I'm going to be doing something meaningful with my life," Naruto said. "Fucking MEMES!"

Naruto flashed a piece of paper in front of Yukika's face.

"What is this?" Yukika asked.

"I'm determining what the memes are going to be around here," Naruto boasted. "Life is meaningless without some good ol' memes. I mean, life is meaningless, period, but the memes make it worth getting up in the morning. So I'm compiling a list of potential MEMES that I'll be forcing you all to partake in."

"Or else what?" Verona challenged.

"Or else fuck you," Naruto scowled.

"Spick," Yurei added.

"I'm still here," Bunko smiled.

"Good for you?" Yurei said.

"I'm done here," Verona decided. "Yukika, have you spoken to Kenta today?"

"No?" Yukika answered.

"Let's see how he's doing," Verona decided as she left for the dorms, gesturing for Yukika to come along.

"Andy Samberg lied. It is still gay when it's in a threeway," Naruto told them.

"You would know," Yukika remarked.

Yurei chuckled.

The two began to walk away from Naruto and Yurei. They sort of laughed as they walked away. The duo then began walking towards the dorms, ready to call it a day.

"Wait!" Yukika said. "I just thought of something!"

"What is it?" Verona asked.

"There was apparently a note on his door…" Yukika said.

"Whose door?" Verona asked, becoming slightly irritated.

"Kenta's, obviously!" Yukika exclaimed. "Let's go!"

They made it to Kenta's door and, sure enough, there was a note posted on the door. The note read "It seems I've caught a cold. I won't be leaving my room today."

"Kenta has nicer handwriting than I'd expect," Verona noted.

"Guess that's just one of those random pointless facts about him," Yukika figured. "Like how I have a mole on my lower back."

 _Did I really just say that?_

"Yeah… one of those facts, I guess…" Verona said. "You're not getting any random facts about me, by the way."

"Yeah fair," Yukika said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Anyway, is this any different from how Kenta normally is?" Verona asked. "Holed up in his room, away from everyone else?"

"You think we should bring him some juice or something?" Yukika asked.

"He's a big boy. He can get it himself," Verona decided.

 _He's the shortest boy here though._

"Hey, Kenta?" Yukika asked as he knocked on Kenta's door.

No response.

"Maybe he's sleeping," Yukika figured.

"Probably," Bunko agreed.

"Ack! How long have you been here?" Verona jumped.

"The entire time," Bunko frowned.

"We can worry about Kenta later," Verona decided. "Let's check on him after the talent show."

"Does he even know about the talent show?" Yukika asked.

"I don't think so," Bunko answered. "He hasn't left his room all day to my knowledge."

"Oh really? Yukika said. "Well uh…"

"HEY!" Verona screamed, banging on his door. "THERE IS A TALENT SHOW TONIGHT YOU'RE FREE TO ATTEND!"

Only silence came from behind the door. Verona frowned.

"Well that's all I can do," Verona said.

"What, wake him up?" Yukika asked flatly. "Just let the poor guy rest."

"He's done nothing but rest and hide from us this entire time. Even Yurei and Naruto have been more sociable!" Verona exclaimed. "It's enough."

"What's enough?" Bunko asked.

Yukika sighed loudly.

 _Well, there's no use in just standing around in the hallway doing nothing. May as well try to be productive._

"Where even is everyone?" Yukika asked.

"Probably the cafeteria or something," Verona said. "It's the biggest area we have that isn't the gym."

"You're right!" Bunko said.

"May as well try to go there then," Yukika said.

"Nah we should just stay in the hallway and do nothing, for sure…" Verona snarked.

* * *

The three then made their way to the cafeteria where an assortment of students was sitting around. Masako, Fumiko, and Jirou were creating a large banner for the talent show. Komei, Asa, and Tama were sitting around the cafeteria while Masakazu was in the corner angrily flickering a lighter over and over.

"Oh, hey guys!" Tama greeted.

"Oh… hey Tama," Yukika said.

"What are you guys up to?" Verona asked.

"Making this HOT banner for the talent show," Jirou bragged.

A mediocre looking banner is shown, with poorly drawn flowers and shapes all over it. The words "Talent Show" are written in extremely fancy handwriting in the center of the banner, taking the attention away from the other aspects of the banner.

"All you did was pick the colors..." Fumiko muttered.

"It's… great?" Yukika said.

"He means it's not good!" Bunko piped up from behind Verona and Yukika. "The words are cute though!"

 _Thanks, I really wanted to hurt someone's feelings today._

"Too bad none of you are Ultimate Sign Makers," Komei remarked.

"I think they had one of those a couple years ago," Tama thought aloud.

"Are you guys excited for the show?" Masako asked.

"I'd say so," Verona nodded. "I'm confident in my performance."

"I'm glad to hear that!" Masako beamed, looking at the performer. "I'm excited to see it!"

Masakazu suddenly burst into the conversation, seemingly running across the room to join in. "Nobody shall beat MY show! Muahahaha!" He continued cackling loudly as everyone looked at each other.

"What's your show?" Asa asked.

"Uh… well, uh… it's a surprise!" Masakazu quickly delivered. "I will be sure to keep you on your toes!"

"So… you have no idea?" Asa snarked.

"I never said that!" Masakazu said backing away quickly.

"Anyways, has anyone seen Kenta?" Asa asked.

"Are you asking if I've seen him, or if I've _seen_ him?" Jirou smirked. "Because the answer is 'no' either way."

"No surprise there," Komei said nonchalantly.

"The note on his door said he's sick," Fumiko pointed out.

"I saw Naruto out and about," Yukika rebutted.

"Naruto doesn't give a shit about anything, though," Komei said. "Not his health or anyone else's."

"Say, that reminds me," Fumiko said. "I meant to ask you, Yukika. Are you feeling alright?"

"Huh, me?" Yukika asked. "I'm fine, yeah. Why do you ask?"

"Well, if Kenta got sick because of Naruto, I wonder if you're feeling any symptoms," Fumiko said. "And, if not, why not?"

"Kenta is the type of individual who doesn't leave his room often," Masakazu stated. "I have come to assume this to be the case in his life outside of this school as well. From this, I can hypothesize that his immune system is far weaker than that of Yukika's."

"As if you or Yukika left your rooms at home either," Komei jeered.

"I figured it was an immune system thing, too," Yukika answered. "People like Naruto and Kenta probably don't get out enough to shrug off the kinds of things we probably could."

 _Wait did she just…?_

"Either way, who gives a fuck, honestly?" Komei asked. "Kenta hasn't done anything for us, why should we care about him?"

"We should care about all of us!" Fumiko said. "We all need to get out of here!"

"Pfft, that's not happening," Komei stated flatly. "If you think that, you're delusional."

"What makes you so sure?" Masako leered.

"Think about it," Komei said. "Makoto Naegi, the Ultimate Hope himself, couldn't save everyone in his class. What makes you think randos like us can pull it off?"

"He also had to deal with Junko Enoshima, remember?" Tama pointed out. "We don't... I hope."

"She's dead, so obviously we won't deal with her…" Jirou said.

"Yeah, but someone's obviously fucked in the head if they're recreating something she made!" Komei exclaimed. "It's the same shit, different people."

"It's absolutely diabolical!" Masakazu exclaimed, appearing out of nowhere once again.

"Would you at least give us a warning of when you're gonna pop up?" Tama asked.

"No!" Masakazu screamed, laughing maniacally and backing away yet again.

"I heard something stupid was happening so here I am to investigate," Geretsuna announced as he entered the room and took a bite of a chicken tender.

"I assume stupidity is quite acquainted with you," Asa said.

"Yes, it is!" Geretsuna said, biting into his chicken tender once again. "I am a professional bullshit detector, you know!"

 _I mean…. He's not wrong…._

"Okay, but why are you here again? Yukika asked.

"Wonderful question, my dear Yukika!" Geretsuna continued, walking into the room. "I have found an insane development!"

"Oh, let me guess, it's a giant conspiracy from the government. I'll pass," Verona said, crossing her arms.

"Um… no, it's actually not quite-" Geretsuna attempted to speak again before being cut off again.

"Yeah, I highly doubt anything you say is true so I'm just gonna tune out now," Komei said.

"Guys…?" Geretsuna asked, sounding desperate.

"Honestly I'm gonna have to agree with them… your talent doesn't exactly lend itself to truth, you know? Yukika said nonchalantly.

"Hmph! Fine! If nobody wants to hear about what I found, then that's your loss! You'll all see the error of your ways!" Geretsuna exclaimed before leaving the cafeteria in a huff.

 _You'll all see the error of your ways? The hell does he mean by that? Either way, I don't really wanna see him get mad._

"What a loser," Komei said.

"Seriously," Asa agreed.

"I wanna see!" Bunko declared as she dashed out of the room.

The Ultimates all watched Bunko in confusion.

"What a loser," Masakazu said.

"Seriously," Verona agreed.

"So… what now?" Yukika asked.

"I still need to finish this banner… but we're close!" Masako urged.

"Oh, yeah!" Fumiko exclaimed. "Let's get this done. We don't have much time left!"

"How much time _do_ we have left?" Yukika questioned.

Masako walked over to Yukika. "We've got about two and a half hours, I'd say! The Talent Show starts at 5:30!"

"Oh, well I guess I gotta get ready!" Yukika said.

"Yeah, me too! I've got a really cool show set up!" Verona said, smiling. "I'll just be preparing then!"

"Oh, well bye guys! See you at the talent show!" Masako waved as Yukika and Verona left the cafeteria.

 _Five thirty, eh? I guess that's not too long. I'm excited to see what everyone's got here! It'll be nice to take a bit of a break from the stress of this whole experience and finally just have fun with my new housemates…._

* * *

Yukika and Verona stepped out into the open foyer area of the dorms. The two walked past into the hallway where the dorms were situated.

"So…" Yukika asked. "What are you planning on doing at the talent show…?"

"Well, it wouldn't be much of a fun surprise if I just _told you_ , eh?" Verona said, laughing.

"Yeah but like, I'm impatient!" Yukika joked back.

Verona laughed slightly. "Alright, I'll tell ya. But don't let anyone else know, alright?"

 _I mean… why would I tell anyone?_

"Promise!" Yukika said. "Pinky swear."

"Pinky swear, really?" Verona teased. "What are we, five?"

"Yeah, obviously," Yukika retorted. "Nah but really, what are you doing?"

"Juggling knives!" Verona exclaimed.

"What?!" Yukika replied. "Isn't that dangerous?"

 _Is she crazy?_

Verona shrugged and began to walk down the hall. Yukika quickly followed. "It is, but don't worry about it, I'm a professional. As long as I'm the only one wielding the knives, nobody's gonna get hurt."

"I guess you're right, but still it's kinda scary, wouldn't you say?" Yukika said. "I mean, what if something goes wrong?"

"It won't, trust me!" Verona comforted Yukika. "Like I said, nobody will get hurt. That's all I can really say."

 _Well, she's right I guess. She'd be the only one in danger if something went wrong. But God, I hope it all turns out alright._

The duo stopped right outside of Yukika's dorm room door. They looked around and continued talking. "Yeah, I don't think I'll be performing tonight," Yukika said, scratching the back of his head. "My talent's not exactly something that's presentable in our current position. It's kinda useless, really."

Verona laughed. "You're right, but your talent isn't totally useless! Just think of the things it helps you with! Hand-eye coordination… um…"

 _Thanks for making me feel better about myself, Verona._

"Point is: don't feel down on yourself, kid," Verona said, patting Yukika on the back. "Keep your chin up."

"Thanks," Yukika said, smiling. "I guess there's not much else to do now until the talent show, I think I might try to take a nap. I'm pretty tired. Just be sure to wake me up when the show starts if I'm not already up!"

"Got it, I might have to head up there a bit early to prepare though, so don't count on me waking you up," Verona said.

"Alright I guess, hope I don't oversleep!" Yukika said. "See ya at the talent show, Verona."

"See ya, Yukika!" Verona replied

Bunko then suddenly waddled up to the duo. "I tried to find Geretsuna but I couldn't find him so now I don't know what he wanted to talk about!" Bunko's face contorted in sadness.

"Aww… I wouldn't worry too much about it," Verona said. "Probably some dumb bullshit anyways, the guy's full of shit."

"Sounds painful…" Bunko said with an uneasy expression on her face.

 _Her inability to understand knows no bounds…._

"Hey! I got it, I'll take you back to the cafeteria and we can talk to Fumiko!" Verona suggested.

"I like that idea!" Bunko smiled, and Verona ushered her off towards the cafeteria.

"Phew…" Yukika said. "Finally maybe I can get some sleep."

Yukika then flung open his door, walked in, and shut it immediately.

* * *

 _God, how exhausting, and the day's not even half over. At least after this nap though will be the talent show, which SHOULD be fun. Thankfully we have something to occupy our time._

 _I can't help but feel a bit worried about the talent show, what if something goes wrong and someone gets hurt? We don't have many medical supplies… at least I think. I wish we had an Ultimate Nurse around here or something. That'd help a lot._

 _Verona's worrying me a bit. She's so carefree, she doesn't really feel like there's much danger in what she does, but she could really hurt herself! Ugh… I guess we'll just have to wait and see… I'm so tired._

* * *

…

…

…

* * *

 _I woke up with a jump. I didn't know what time it was. I can only hope I didn't oversleep and miss the talent show, how big of a mess that would be…_

 _I walked out into the hallway and noticed people milling into the cafeteria from here. Phew… I didn't miss it._

Yukika walked towards the cafeteria and noticed Yurei standing against the opposite wall, grimacing. Yukika walked up to Yurei.

"Why are you here? I thought you didn't want to show up?" Yukika asked.

"Shut up. I'm just fucking standing, got a problem with it?" Yurei blurted out.

"No, I don't. I'm just wondering. Why so defensive?" Yukika said.

"I'm not fucking defensive!" Yurei said, stepping away from the wall closer to Yukika. "And I don't want to be in this fucking goddamn show, got it, faggot?"

Yukika stumbled back and fell to the ground. "G-Got it… Yurei."

"Good, now if you'll excuse me I'll just continue fucking standing here, thank you very fucking much," Yurei said, leaning back against the wall.

"Jeez, fine, fine," Yukika said, standing back up. "I was just curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat, I thought that was fucking first-grade shit, retard," Yurei grumbled. "Fucking frolic away and play with the other fags, loser."

"Jesus…" Yukika said, walking away towards the cafeteria.

 _Heh… he totally wants in the show. Poor guy, I almost feel bad for him. Too bad he's also a raging douchebag who tries to kill me nearly every time I talk to him… did I really just say that?_

Yukika then walked towards the cafeteria. A gigantic banner with the words "TALENT SHOW" in extravagant letters was hung above the entrance of the cafeteria. Everyone else was slowly filing in while Masako stood next to the door, smiling broadly.

 _Wow. That banner's actually really good. I gotta hand it to them, they did pretty well! Not bad for a carpenter, an interior designer, and a clown._

"Hey! Yukika! Glad to see you made it," Masako smiled, handing Yukika a small brochure that was hastily scribbled down on pieces of paper likely found in the school storage.

"Thanks for hosting it!" Yukika replied, taking the brochure. "I mean, this is a great way to distract from the situation, you know?"

"Well hey, no problem!" Masako smiled. "Don't mention it, let's just have some fun!"

Yukika walked into the cafeteria to see multiple tables pushed together to make a makeshift stage. Ten chairs lined in two rows of five sat in front of the tables. Masakazu, Fumiko, Tama, Mitsu, and Komei were sitting in the front row while Geretsuna and Jirou sat in the back, Geretsuna munching on a chicken tender and Jirou checking his nails.

 _Well, I may as well sit next to Jirou. He seems nice enough I guess._

Yukika walked up to Jirou and pulled the seat next to him back. He then quickly sat down. "Hey man, what's up?"

"Not much girl, just waiting for this shit to start to see my girls fucking slay me!" Jirou exclaimed.

"Oh really?" Yukika said. "Who's performing?"

"Uhm, girl," Jirou rolled his eyes. "Have you even looked at the program you're holding? It's Asa, Masako, and Verona!"

 _Now I feel stupid._

"Oh, whoops," Yukika said, shifting a bit. "So when's it starting?"

"Right about now, actually!" Jirou said as Masako began to close the doors to the cafeteria.

Suddenly, Sake rushed towards the doors and slumped onto Masako. "H-h-hey! You're not starting this without me are ya?" Sake slurred as she pushed herself into the cafeteria.

"Thanks, boss," Sake said rushing up to the others. "Ayyyy! What's poppin'?"

 _Please don't sit by me, please don't sit by me, please don't sit by me…_

"Ayy, Yukika? What's up? This seat taken?" Sake said, immediately plopping down in the seat next to Yukika.

"Why ask when you can just sit down?" Yukika said, rolling his eyes.

"Wow! Good point! I never thought about it like that!" Sake began cackling loudly. "You're so smart and funny!"

 _Why do I even bother?_

"Hello, everyone! It's time for the talent show to begin!" Masako said. "We're running a bit behind schedule since it's 5:45 and all, but let's get onto the performers!"

The room burst into applause from the small audience. "Alright! Performer number one is none other than Asa Kawa! She'll be performing a saxophone solo right before your very eyes!" Masako exclaimed. "Give it up for, Asa!"

 _Oh yeah, she's the ultimate saxophonist. I almost forgot!_

"Hey, guys…" Asa said, walking onto the tables with a saxophone strapped to her neck. "I guess here we go!" Asa then burst into a loud, bustling sax solo. The crowd sat there captivated by the notes being played in perfect succession. Asa continued playing the solo with a variety of techniques, eventually ending up on the perfect ending note. After she finished, the room burst into applause. Asa waved sheepishly and stepped off stage.

Sake looked at Yukika, dumbfounded. "Wow! That bitch can fuckin' play! Holy fucking shit!" Everyone turned and looked at Sake, who just looked vacantly back.

"You're not wrong, but keep it down please," Fumiko said. "I just kinda don't want to listen to it today."

"Listen to what?" Sake yelled loudly. "I'm just cheering people on!"

"Yeah Fumiko, just let her cheer it out!" Tama said, smiling.

"I guess it's at least positive this time…" Fumiko said.

 _I mean I guess…._

Asa then walked out on stage and coughed slightly. "Alright, uh, the next performer is actually Masako, so uh… give it up for Masako, I guess."

The room burst into applause as Asa quickly retreated to a seat and Masako walked onto the stage carrying bowling pins. "Hey, guys… I didn't really know what to prepare so I guess I can do this?" Masako said, beginning to juggle them slowly. Everyone looked at her with confused stares.

"Man oh man does this bitch suck!" Sake screamed and everyone looked back. Masako then dropped her bowling pins onto the makeshift stage and started frowning heavily. "I mean, hoo-wee do I mean bad! So bad that-"

"Yeah we get it hunty, do you have to make her feel like shit?" Jirou scolded.

"I for one enjoy her attitude!" Masakazu laughed.

"Well that makes one of us," Mitsu said. "We should just get along."

"Pfft," Komei said, shrugging.

"You don't think so?" Mitsu said, looking at Komei. "Getting along is the best way for us to become a team!"

"I-I mean… like… I mean-" Komei stammered. She then looked away quickly.

Sake shrugged. "I'm just callin' it as I see it and Masako fuckin sucks at this shit!"

Masako then ran off the stage sadly, and everyone began glaring at Sake.

"Wow, good job, jerk," Fumiko said, crossing her arms.

"Whatever, fuck y'all," Sake said, walking to the corner of the cafeteria and sitting down in an empty chair that was pushed against the wall.

 _See, I'd feel bad for her if she wasn't such a bitch._

Masako sniffled loudly as she walked back onto the stage. "Alright… for our final performer, we've got a real treat for you! We've got Verona with knife juggling and throwing! Give it up… for Verona!"

Everyone began clapping loudly and Verona walked onto the stage, knives in hand.

 _Wait, this is the last performance? It's only 6:05! I can't believe this is only taking like, twenty minutes. Ridiculous. Whatever, it's a distraction I guess, and I get to watch my friend perform live so that's a plus._

"Hey guys," Verona said. "Tonight I'll be juggling some knives for you, but don't worry, I'm a professional so nothing gonna go wrong!"

 _Verona better be right…_

Verona then began to juggle the knives. Five knives in all, it was no easy feat, however, she began to move around while juggling the knives, doing tricks and leaping in the air. The whole audience was suspended in disbelief at the performer's agility and skill. She then began to do a backflip and caught all five knives. She then smiled and bowed.

The crowd went wild, applauding madly. "Yeah, Verona!" Yukika exclaimed while cheering loudly!

 _That was incredible! I can't believe she actually did it! That was insane. Can't believe I ever doubted her._

"Alright, guys, I guess that conclu-" Masako said, but was interrupted by a loud banging on the door. "Don't worry guys! Stay calm, I got it!"

 _I don't know who that is, but they sound angry. Hope Masako's ready for whatever's behind there._

Masako then walked towards the door and unlocked it. She then opened the door and a panicked Naruto was seen at the door. "Guys! Guys!"

"What is it?" Masako asked Naruto.

"It's about Kenta! He got heckin' bodied!" Naruto exclaimed. "Follow me!"

 _...! Kenta!_

* * *

Masako then followed Naruto as he ran towards the classroom area of the first floor, Yukika and the rest of the gang followed closely behind. Turning corners they eventually stumbled into room 1-B, where a large blood trail streaked the floor.

 _Then I saw it..._

The eyes of the classmates followed a large trail of blood down the wall to the floor, the body of Kenta was then seen and time itself seemed to distort. Stuffed underneath a teacher's desk. Kenta had a large knife sticking out of his chest and a wound on his head. The students stopped and gaped in silence. Everyone was suspended in total disbelief, some screamed in fear.

 _It had happened… the first murder, the murder that was only a matter of time had happened. I cannot believe it! One of us fifteen… we had killed him. One of us had murdered one of our own. Kenta Ri, the Ultimate Lucky Student. A boy who had never known how to adapt to his new world, isolating himself in an attempt to escape this vile, twisted game ended up becoming the first victim of it. An ironic twist of fate for a lucky student._

 _Kenta Ri… The Ultimate Lucky Student… was dead._

 _And I'm gonna find his killer!_


End file.
